Philip Webb, 34, pleaded guilty Monday, Sept. 14, to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for a crash in August 2025 that killed Leonard Davison, 51, at a Carlsbad intersection.

Webb entered his plea at San Diego County Superior Court in Vista, where North County criminal cases are handled. He faces up to 10 years in state prison and is scheduled to be sentenced in October, according to a City News Service report published by Patch.

Webb had initially faced a murder charge. The report did not detail why that charge was reduced or whether a plea agreement was reached.

Prosecutors said Webb had a blood-alcohol content of about 0.10% when he ran a red light at Piraeus Street and La Costa Avenue at around 5:20 a.m. His vehicle struck and overturned Davison's pickup truck, which had been traveling along La Costa Avenue. Davison was taken to a hospital, where he died.

The Carlsbad Police Department posted on X on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, that officers had responded to a fatal collision at the intersection and that alcohol was suspected as a factor.

The crash was one of two fatal collisions recorded in Carlsbad during the third quarter of 2025. The department's quarterly crime report covering July through September of that year also tallied 90 DUI arrests across the city. Of those, 24 came from collisions, 28 from dispatched calls and 38 from officer-initiated stops.

The case underscores an enforcement push the department has described publicly. In a Sept. 1 press release announcing a DUI checkpoint, Carlsbad Police Sgt. Conrad Page-DeMorst said, "Impaired drivers put others on the road at significant risk."

Page-DeMorst noted that drivers charged with a first-time DUI face an average of $13,500 in fines and penalties, along with a suspended license.

The specific date and courtroom for Webb's October sentencing have not been publicly announced. Residents with information about impaired driving can contact the Carlsbad Police Department's non-emergency line at 442-339-2197.