Trial date set for 1-armed driver charged with murder

Jason Kotowski
·1 min read

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A July trial date has been set for the one-armed motorist accused of driving more than 100 mph in a Dodge Challenger before colliding head-on with another vehicle, killing its driver.

Karim Reyad has a trial date scheduled for July 22 on charges including second-degree murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, according to court records.

Prosecutors allege Reyad was impaired by marijuana when he crashed April 18, 2023, on Campus Park Drive in southwest Bakersfield, killing Gayla Sue Price, the driver and sole occupant of a Honda Civic, and injuring himself and two passengers. He swerved into the Honda’s path, according to police reports.

The 19-year-old was arrested on suspicion of impaired driving a week before the crash.

Reyad’s attorneys have questioned the reliability of statements witnesses gave police, whether he was impaired and the validity of evidence including data obtained from his badly damaged car’s event data recorder.

Reyad lost his arm in an earlier crash on a motorized scooter.

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