Fullerton Man Gets 7 Years in Vehicle Death : Sentencing: The crash caused an explosion in which a woman died and another was critically burned. The defendant was driving drunk.

SANTA ANA —  A Fullerton man was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving stemming from a fatal car explosion in which one woman was killed and another injured.

Kelly J. Stoehr, 38, was driving with a blood-alcohol content of at least .23--nearly three times the legal limit of .08--when his car crashed into another one, causing it to burst into flames, officials said.

Tram Thi Nguyen, 24, of Fountain Valley was killed in the explosion on Oct. 15, 1992. A second woman in the car, Nga Nguyen, 24, of Santa Ana, was critically burned, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Valerie Griswold.

Witnesses who risked their own lives helped rescue Nga Nguyen and another passenger but could not save Tram Nguyen.

Stoehr was driving alone in his Ford Thunderbird traveling north on Euclid Street when he struck the rear of Nguyen’s stopped Toyota Cressida, knocking it about 90 feet into a third vehicle at the intersection of La Palma Avenue in Anaheim, officials said.

An expert testified at Stoehr’s trial that because Stoehr’s blood-alcohol level was tested an hour and a half after the crash, it would have been closer to .27 when the accident happened, Griswold said.

Defense attorney James D. Stone said the case was a tragedy for all involved, especially for the victims but also for his client who suffers from alcoholism.

“Mr. Stoehr admitted from the start that he did this, that he has an alcohol problem,” Stone said. “He’s doing better today in one way--he’s not drinking anymore.”

Witnesses who spoke on Stoehr’s behalf Friday included Stoehr’s employer and his Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor, Griswold said.

Stoehr faced a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison. Griswold said she believed the sentence handed down Friday by Orange County Superior Court Judge William W. Bedsworth “says to people who drink large quantities of alcohol: If you do this, you will pay.”