A Greeley-area driver will serve jail time only during the summers after a deadly head-on collision near Wiggins, a sentencing decision that has left the victims' family convinced the justice system came up short. On Thursday, the driver received a two-year county jail term tied to the September 2024 crash that killed a local couple, with the judge ordering the sentence to be broken into summer blocks rather than served all at once.
Judge orders summer-only jail
The driver pleaded guilty to careless driving resulting in death, third-degree assault, and menacing, and was sentenced to two years in county jail. The judge structured the punishment so it will be served in 90-day stretches each year from May through August until the full term is completed. Prosecutors had asked for a stiffer penalty, and the court also imposed a four-year deferred judgment on a manslaughter charge, according to 9News.
Crash and victims
The collision happened on Sept. 15, 2024, along U.S. Highway 34 near Wiggins and claimed the lives of Sandy and Floyd O'Dowd. Their 18-year-old daughter, Angel, survived but suffered serious injuries, as reported by Denver7. Investigators with the Colorado State Patrol said the wreck began when a vehicle tried to pass a line of cars and then crashed head-on into the O'Dowds' vehicle; they said speed was suspected as a factor in what happened.
Family reaction and testing push
Relatives of the O'Dowd family told reporters they felt the sentence did not match the loss they suffered and described the outcome as falling short of real accountability. They are now advocating for a Colorado law that would require drug and alcohol testing after any fatal crash, according to 9News. District Attorney Travis Sides said he understands their anger and that no possible result in court could truly make up for the deaths, according to statements from his office.
What a deferred judgment means
Under Colorado law, a court can hold off on entering a conviction for a set period while a defendant follows specific conditions. If the person fails to comply, the judge can then enter the judgment and impose the sentence that comes with it, per the Colorado Revised Statutes. In this case, the four-year deferred judgment on the manslaughter charge could turn into a formal conviction during that period if the terms are not met, according to Colorado law.
What's next
The defendant is required to report to the county jail for the court-ordered summer confinement each year unless a higher court or the trial judge later changes the sentence. The case has renewed attention on safety along two-lane highways in northern Colorado, as well as whether state policy should mandate substance testing after deadly crashes, as local reporting has highlighted by Denver7.
