Ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer avoids jail time for vehicular manslaughter charge

Josh Klinghoffer, former guitarist for Red Hot Chili Peppers, has avoided a jail sentence following a charge of vehicular manslaughter.

The incident took place last year when the musician was driving his GMC Yukon in Alhambra, California, and struck a 47-year-old man called Israel Sanchez. The pedestrian died from his injuries hours later.

Later in the year, the guitarist pleaded not guilty to the vehicular manslaughter charge.

In a plea deal made yesterday (May 28), Klinghoffer has accepted the lesser charge of misdemeanour vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, according to Stereogum. The charge means that he has avoided jail time as part of the sentence.

A County Judge in Los Angeles has sentenced him to 60 days of community labour and one year of informal probation. He is also ordered to complete a class on driver safety and pay restitution. The fee for this is to be determined at a later date.

After the incident last March, Klinghoffer was sued by Sanchez’s family for wrongful death. In the filing, they alleged that the guitarist was using his phone at the time and “likely driving while distracted”.

They also claimed that the musician – who has also worked with Jane’s Addition, Pearl Jam, Iggy Pop and Morrissey – “made no braking or slowing motion until after he fatally struck.”

In a statement shared with Pitchfork back last summer, Klinghoffer’s lawyer, Andrew B. Brettler, described the incident as “a tragic accident”.

He added: “After the car struck the pedestrian, Josh immediately pulled over, stopped the vehicle, called 911, and waited until police and the ambulance arrived. He is fully cooperating with the traffic investigation.”

Around that time, the Sanchez family lawyer Nick Rowley claimed to Variety that they “have a video of him on his cell phone at the time he hit and killed Israel Sanchez.”

“Israel Sanchez was on his way to the grocery store to make soup for his family and never came home,” he added. “He did everything right, looking for oncoming traffic and abiding by pedestrian signage, but tragically Mr. Klinghoffer, in a rush and on his phone, hit him fatally from behind with a large SUV. The loss and grief that the Sanchez family now faces is immense. We will not stop until there is accountability and justice for Mr. Sanchez and his family.”

A hearing on the case is set for July 1 2025.

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