A 25-year-old man was sentenced on Friday to a year in prison for a 2022 crash in which four teenagers were killed and injured four others in Commerce City.
Brandon Howey was found guilty of four counts of careless driving, which resulted in death and four counts of careless driving resulting in injury, all traffic delicents, by a jury of Adams County in November.
He was initially accused of murder of vehicles and vehicle attack in the case, but the jury condemned him for lesser charges. He received the maximum sentence that is possible under the law of Colorado.
Howey rode 92 miles per hour on US 85 The night of 25 February 2022, when he ran a red light on East 112th Avenue and an SUV that ran left.
The crash killed Jamie Withers, 15; Michael Burkhard, 15; Johnathan bledsoe, 16; And Katelyn Sweeney, 16, and left four other teenagers with serious injury.
District lawyer Brian Mason said he respected the jury’s decision, but the punishment was “a difficult pill to swallow.”
“Such cases are burned in our memories. The law enforcement officers who responded to this scene and my team that continued this case will never forget this tragedy and will never forget the horror of the crime scene and the lost lives, “said Mason.
Friends and relatives of the victims spoke during the hearing about the devastating impact of the crash on their lives.
Bailey Burkhard was 14 years old when her older brother, Michael, was killed at the crash. He brought joy and light into the life of his family and always got up for what was good, she said.
“For everyone, the accident happened three years ago and they continued. But for me and my parents it feels like time has stopped, “she said. “Nobody should ever go through what I did at that age.”
Howey also spoke during the hearing and told the Judge Jeffrey Ruff of Adams County District Court that he would accept the consequences that the court considered necessary.
“I hope you can see that I am really repenting the part I played in this tragic event, but I hope to get the chance to lead a life that has meaning and value for the community in general,” ” he said.
Before announcing the sentence, Ruff acknowledged that nothing he did could give the families back what they lost and encouraged them to keep telling stories to continue their memories.
“They were loved and they liked. They were leaders. They had so much to give, so much more than the short time they were here, “he said.
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