Eastyn K. Tueller, now 22, is serving a one-to-15-year prison sentence for a 2022 crash that killed a 61-year-old woman. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole heard Tueller’s request for release Tuesday. She told the board she had changed since the crash and hoped to use her experience to warn teenagers about drinking and driving, KSL reported.
KSL reported that on Dec. 26, 2022, Tueller was driving a 2020 Kia Rio north on 900 West at 98 mph in a 35 mph zone. She ran a red light at 600 North and struck a 2012 Ford Escape, according to KSL. Tueller told the board she had drunk a half case of beer; the outlet reported her blood-alcohol level was later measured at 0.16%.
The two people in the Ford were extricated and taken to a hospital in critical and extremely critical condition, KSL reported. One later died. KSL identified her as Rose Elena Mendez-Leyva, 61; KUTV (KMYU) identified her as Rosa Elena Mendez, 61. Tueller was also seriously injured. She told the board she had to relearn how to walk, talk and eat.
Alcohol-Related Fatalities in Utah
Alcohol-related fatalities accounted for 16% of all traffic fatalities in Utah from 2018 to 2022, according to a Utah Department of Public Safety report. The figure describes the share over that five-year period; the report finding cited here does not establish whether that share rose or fell.
From Manslaughter Charge to a Prison Sentence
Tueller was initially charged with manslaughter and negligently operating a vehicle resulting in death, both second-degree felonies, along with other crimes, KSL reported. In 2024, she pleaded guilty to negligently operating a vehicle resulting in death and negligently operating a vehicle resulting in serious injury. She was sentenced to one to 15 years in Utah State Prison. If she serves the full term, her sentence would not expire until 2039, the account noted.
Tuesday marked Tueller’s first appearance before the parole board since sentencing. Board member Dan Bokovoy asked why she had been driving so fast. Tueller said she had acted selfishly and immaturely and may have been angry at the time, KSL reported.
How Utah parole decisions work
The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole determines how long a person serving an indeterminate prison sentence will remain in prison and whether the person may be released on parole. The board says decisions are not made on the hearing day and usually take two to six weeks. The board says victims are notified of a tentative hearing date and may participate in ways that feel comfortable to them. It also says family members may testify when a victim is deceased. That guidance does not establish whether Mendez’s family participated in this hearing, and the available information does not say whether they did.
A Troubled Home Life Before the Crash
At the hearing, Tueller described depression, conflict with her mother and feeling abandoned after her father left. She said she used alcohol to cope and was afraid to seek help. “I felt scared about asking anybody for anything because I didn't want to be shut down,” she said, according to KSL.
Tueller characterized her teenage self as disrespectful, rude and mean, and said she had been angry partly because she disliked herself. She told the board that overcoming self-doubt has been her biggest challenge since the crash, KSL reported.
Plans to Speak to Students if Released
Tueller told the board that prison had helped her take responsibility and communicate more constructively with her mother and others. “I'm not that little girl teenager I was,” she said, according to KSL. She also said she has a large support group ready to help if she is released.
If released, Tueller said she plans to visit schools and show students videos of herself connected to machines while relearning to walk, as well as her scars, to discourage drinking and driving. The full Board of Pardons and Parole must decide whether to grant parole or schedule another hearing. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole says it does not issue a decision on the day of a hearing.
