KINGMAN – A 15-year prison term has been imposed for a Bullhead City woman who pleaded guilty to manslaughter for a deadly traffic accident in Golden Valley. The punishment that Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen ordered for Lidia Tapia, 51, was stipulated in the plea deal that dismissed a number of other charges.
Michael Bunes, 51, Golden Valley, was fatally injured when ejected after the Expedition he was operating was rear-ended by Tapia’s eastbound Toyota Camry on highway 68 at about 1 a.m. on Oct. 24, 2022.
His partner mourned the loss of Bunes during the sentencing hearing.
“I miss him and I need him back in my life but that’s not going to happen because he is dead,” the woman told the Court. “Every day I miss his smile and laugh.”
Deputy Mohave County Attorney Jacob Cote has said that Tapia had methamphetamine in her system at the time of the crash and that testing also revealed a blood alcohol concentration of .138, far beyond the legal limit of .08%.
