A 53-year-old man who pleaded guilty in the fatal crash that killed 13-year-old Alex Mackiewicz of Highlands Ranch as the boy was on his way to school was sentenced by a Douglas County District Court judge to one year in prison . Tuesday.
Ruben Morones pleaded guilty to reckless driving causing death, a traffic violation, for the fatal March 6 crash and was sentenced to the maximum penalty allowed by Colorado law, Douglas County officials said Tuesday during a briefing.
“The system is seriously broken when the most serious consequences for careless driving resulting in death are a $1,000 fine and a year in jail,” said Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly. said after the hearing.
According to police reports, Morones ran a red light and struck Alex while he was standing in the crosswalk near Venneford Ranch Road and Highlands Ranch Parkway. He died on the spot.
Alex’s mother, Victoria Cegielski, said she wants to change state law so that these types of accidents are classified as involuntary manslaughter, a misdemeanor.
“There is nothing small about human life,” Cegielski said during a briefing after the hearing. “The punishment must be proportionate to the outcome of the crash.”
Weekly described the crash as “one of the most horrific crashes I have ever seen” and said he would work with Alex’s family and state lawmakers to bring about change.
“We can do better as a state and start holding people accountable for their actions,” Weekly said.
An attorney for Morones could not immediately be reached for comment.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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