Nearly five months after a single-car crash on westbound I-70 at Garrison Street killed a 48-year-old driver, Wheat Ridge police have announced criminal charges against the passenger who was riding with him — not the driver himself. Marissa Prescott, 40, is now charged with felony manslaughter and misdemeanor child abuse in connection with the April 4 wreck, which also involved a minor riding in the backseat.
Officers responded to the crash at 4:51 a.m. that day, according to a case update posted by the Wheat Ridge Police Department on Facebook. The vehicle, which carried three occupants, struck the median before crashing, and witnesses described it as swerving out of control in the moments beforehand. The driver died at the scene, while Prescott and the minor survived.
Investigators with the department's Crash and Traffic Team spent nearly five months piecing together what happened before referring the case to prosecutors. That specialized unit, made up of one sergeant and four officers within the Patrol Operations Division, is tasked with handling major collision investigations and traffic-related crimes across Wheat Ridge, according to the City of Wheat Ridge.
What Prosecutors Allege
The First Judicial District Attorney's Office, which covers Jefferson and Gilpin Counties under elected District Attorney Alexis King, filed one count of manslaughter, a Class 4 felony, and one count of child abuse, a Class 1 misdemeanor, against Prescott. Prosecutors allege her actions caused the crash that killed the driver and endangered the minor riding along. King, who took office in January 2021 and was reelected in November 2024, oversees a team of more than 180 personnel who review law enforcement filings across the district, per the First Judicial District Attorney's Office.
Police have not released specifics about what Prescott is accused of doing behind the wheel or from the passenger seat that allegedly led to the crash, and the department says no further details will be released at this time. As with any pending case, Prescott is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Colorado's manslaughter statute covers reckless conduct that causes another person's death without premeditation, and carries a sentence of two to six years in state prison, three years of mandatory parole, and fines between $2,000 and $500,000, according to Justia Law. The child abuse charge applies when someone knowingly or recklessly places a minor in a situation that threatens injury, even without serious physical harm, and carries penalties of up to 364 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
A Corridor With a History of Fatal Crashes
The stretch of I-70 near Garrison Street has drawn safety attention before; local authorities previously reconfigured the underpass into a double four-way stop intersection to reduce collisions and manage backups near the interstate ramps, per the Neighborhood Gazette. Hoodline previously covered the crash's aftermath the morning it snarled traffic, before any charges had been filed.
The case also lands amid a broader rise in traffic danger across the area. Wheat Ridge Police recorded a 13% increase in total crash calls in 2024, reaching 1,330, along with a nearly 62% surge in DUI crashes, prompting the department to boost traffic citations by 49% and DUI arrests by nearly 28%, the Gazette reported. Statewide, Colorado traffic fatalities rose 2% in 2025 to 701 deaths, and impaired driving deaths climbed 11% to 235, according to preliminary data from the Colorado Department of Transportation.
This is not the only fatal crash the First Judicial District Attorney's Office has pursued in Wheat Ridge this year. In March, prosecutors secured a prison sentence against a driver in a separate fatal crash investigated by the same Crash and Traffic Team, after disproving that driver's defense claim. And in April, a wrong-way drunk driver was sentenced to 12 years in prison for a different fatal I-70 crash in the city, a case Hoodline also covered.
Continued Enforcement Along I-70
Wheat Ridge Police continue to run frequent high-speed enforcement operations along the corridor, including a July holiday weekend patrol in which officers cited a driver going 111 mph on the interstate. Transportation officials have also scheduled extended weekend closures on I-70 at Kipling Street in September for bridge repairs, with detours expected to add 30 minutes or more to commutes through the area.
The manslaughter and child abuse charges against Prescott remain pending prosecution, and no court dates have been made public. Wheat Ridge police say they will not be releasing additional details about the case at this time.
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