Trucker sentenced for road accident that killed family of 5

Lina Portman2 weeks ago

11 3 minutes read

Main image: Carnage from I-25 crash scene (screenshot via KDVR); Inset left: Jesus Puebla appears in a booking photo (Weld County); Inset right: Victims Aaron Godinez, Halie Everts and Tessleigh Godinez (GoFundMe)

A Colorado trucker will spend more than a decade in prison for a tragic highway crash that killed a family of five in June 2022.

In March, Jesus Puebla, 28, was convicted by Weld County jurors on all 10 counts against him in December 2022.

In the fatal crash on Interstate 25, Puebla was driving a truck containing U.S. Postal Service mail without a commercial driver's license. He struck Aaron Godinez, 20, his fiancee Halie Everts, 20, the couple's 3-month-old daughter Tessleigh Godinez, and Aaron's parents, Emiliano Godinez, 51, and Christina Godinez, 47. The truck was traveling at around 76 mph while the victims were essentially stopping for traffic – and decelerating between 6 mph and 10 mph.

At the time of the incident, the Godinez family was returning to their home state of Wyoming, the district attorney's office said in a news release.

The defendant was charged with one count of vehicular homicide by victim, one count of vehicular assault of a man who was injured but not killed, one count of reckless driving, one count reckless driving and two commercial safety violations.

On Friday, Weld County District Judge Allison Esser sentenced Puebla to two years in prison for each homicide conviction and one year in prison for the assault conviction, according to a KUSA court report, NBC affiliate based in Denver. These sentences will be served consecutively or one after the other. For counts 7 through 9, the judge sentenced Puebla to 90 days in jail, concurrently or at the same time, but credited his 93 days of pretrial detention, deeming them effectively served. For count 10, the defendant was fined $100.

“These families have had to deal with the trauma and this devastating loss every day,” Assistant District Attorney Yvette Guthrie said in a statement. “Absolutely nothing this defendant did on the day of this tragic accident was an accident. It wasn't road rage; it was road terrorism.

During the trial, the defendant and his attorneys unsuccessfully attempted to shift blame to Caminantes Trucking, the box truck's owner, for asking Puebla to drive a “Frankenstein truck” whose brakes were out of alignment. An investigation by the Colorado State Patrol confirmed that the truck's brakes were not working properly.

Prosecutors countered that eyewitness testimony confirmed that Puebla's “driving was horrific” and risked putting lives in danger, even though the covered truck's brakes had not been defective.

“He didn’t brake until he hit that family,” Guthrie said previously. “We know when he braked because there are skid marks. It’s so simple.”

Family members of both the victim and the accused spoke during the emotional sentencing hearing.

“Five incredible lives were taken on June 13, which changed everyone's lives that day,” Emiliano and Christina's daughter said, according to the prosecutor's office. “My mother and father were the best parents a child could ask for. I will never have a day with them again. I wish there was an opportunity for Heaven to have visiting hours because I miss them every day.

Norberto Puebla Gallegos, the defendant's brother, said Puebla was not a criminal deserving a long prison sentence – and pointed out that the defendant was also the father of two children.

“Jesus is a hardworking man who was just trying to provide for his family,” his brother said, according to the television station. “She is a good person who would never want to hurt anyone.”

The judge acknowledged the problem with the truck's brakes, but still had harsh words for the accused regarding the manner in which he was driving that fateful day.

“It was reckless driving in a 20,000-pound truck — you had a responsibility to our community,” Esser said in Puebla, according to WUSA. “There would never be a clash.”

The defendant, for his part, expressed his contrition.

“I’m really sorry that this happened and I never meant to hurt anyone,” Puebla told the judge.

Lina Portman

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