Modesto woman involved in self-defense shooting dies in Visalia crash
A Modesto woman who fatally shot another woman in self-defense in June died in a car accident south of Visalia Thursday.
Tabitha Leslie, 35, allegedly shot 30-year-old McKayla Dollard in an alley near D and Sixth streets on June 11.
Investigators said Leslie was the intended victim of an assault by Dollard and two others and that she fired a gun in self-defense.
Dollard’s accomplices, Caroline Clayton, 25, and Dallas Rampley, 34, both of Modesto, in August pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon for their involvement in the crime.
Clayton was sentenced to five years in prison and Rampley to three years in prison.
Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear said police in San Diego found Leslie on Oct. 10 and Modesto Detectives went there to pick her up. She was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm and later was released on bail.
At about 4:35 a.m. Thursday, Leslie was driving a 2009 Lexus north on Akers Street, south of Avenue 272, when for unknown reasons she veered into the southbound lanes, into the path of a big rig, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The big rig driver, 25-year-old David Jones of Visalia, swerved to the right but wasn’t able to avoid a collision, the CHP said.
The left front of the Lexus struck the left front of the big rig. Leslie was pinned inside the Lexus and declared dead at the scene.
It is was unknown Thursday if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the collision, according to the CHP.
This story was originally published October 25, 2019 at 10:08 AM.
