Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Friday, Sept. 25, toughening penalties for repeat drunk drivers. The measure traces directly to a fatal Manhattan Beach crash.

Senate Bill 907, known as "Braun's Law," is named after Braun Levi, an 18-year-old nationally ranked tennis player killed May 4, 2025, while crossing Sepulveda Boulevard at Ronda Drive in Manhattan Beach, the Sacramento Bee reported. Newsom signed it as part of a four-bill package targeting impaired driving.

Levi, a Loyola High School senior and four-time Mission League doubles champion, was struck at about 12:45 a.m. by a driver whose blood-alcohol level measured 0.19%, more than twice the 0.08% legal limit, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The driver, Jenia Resha Belt, 33, of Los Angeles, was driving on a suspended license from a prior DUI arrest.

Belt was charged Dec. 18, 2025, with murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving on a suspended license. She pleaded not guilty at a Jan. 13 arraignment in Torrance and is being held on $2 million bail, Fox Los Angeles reported. If convicted, she faces up to 15 years to life in state prison.

The law, authored by Sen. Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Rivera), requires courts to formally warn drivers whose DUI charges are reduced or pleaded down that if they drive impaired again and kill someone, they can be charged with second-degree murder. It also escalates felony penalties for drivers who flee the scene of a crash involving injury or death if the incident occurred within 10 years of a previous DUI, reckless driving or gross vehicular violation.

"No family should have to endure what mine has, or what has happened to the Levi family. … Nothing will ever bring my Samantha back or bring Braun back to the Levi family, but in signing SB 907 California is finally stepping up for victims," Archuleta said in a Sept. 25 statement.

Archuleta's loss is personal. His granddaughter Samantha was killed by a drunk driver in December 2024.

Jennifer Levi, Braun's mother, pushed for the legislation after her son's death. She founded the Live Like Braun Foundation, which funds college scholarships and holds seminars at high schools about the dangers of impaired driving, the Los Angeles Times reported. She also serves on the Mothers Against Drunk Driving California State Legislative Board.

In a Sept. 25 statement, Newsom said the new laws impose tougher penalties and greater accountability for impaired drivers.

The signing comes amid a sharp rise in alcohol-related traffic deaths statewide. California recorded 1,355 alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities in 2023, according to the UC Berkeley Safe Transportation Research and Education Center. Los Angeles County led the state with 265 of those deaths, Streetsblog California reported.

Three companion bills signed alongside Braun's Law will phase in over the next several years. AB 1546, by Assemblymember Nick Schultz (D-Burbank), makes a third DUI eligible for felony charges and takes effect in 2033. AB 1685 and AB 1687, both by Assemblymember Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale), increase DMV violation points for vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and extend the maximum license revocation for a third DUI from three years to eight. Both take effect Jan. 1, 2031.

Newsom noted in a signing message that California's DMV does not yet have the technology to enforce the companion bills and called on the Legislature to pass interim legislation requiring a centralized DUI-tracking system.

Braun's Law takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. Residents who want to report a suspected impaired driver can call 911 or the California Highway Patrol at (800) 835-5247.