JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — A 30-year-old man has been sentenced to 29 years in prison after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide in relation to the death of a 71-year-old woman in Westminster.
Juan Ignacio Duran was sentenced in Jefferson County District Court on Dec. 26, just over a month after he pleaded guilty to:
- Vehicular homicide
- First-degree assault
- Attempted first-degree assault
Tests revealed Duran had a blood alcohol level of .219 – which is more than twice the legal limit — at the time of the Dec. 28, 2018 crash, which ultimately ended in the death of Dianne Johnson. THC was also in his system, tests showed.
That day, Westminster Police were called to the area of 10633 Westminster Blvd. on a report of a DUI. Witnesses said the driver almost side-swiped a car before driving over a curb in a parking lot and hitting several bushes.
When officers arrived, they observed the suspect, later identified as Duran, driving northbound in the southbound lanes of traffic. A short time later, he collided with three vehicles.
Johnson was driving one of those vehicles and was taken to the hospital, where she later died from her injuries. The other drivers were not seriously injured in the wreck.
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