Police Blotter: Drunk driver who killed 5 given 20 years

Posted by Bill Donovan | Feb 1, 2018 | Police Blotter |

PHOENIX

A federal judge has given a Kayenta man one of the stiffest sentences ever placed on someone found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault.

James Robertson Young, 29, received a 20-year sentence after entering a guilty plea to the two charges. Originally, he was charged with five counts of involuntary manslaughter after he was found to be intoxicated when the vehicle he was driving collided with a family traveling to the Grand Canyon to sell jewelry on May 26, 2017. Only one member of the family, a 14-year-old girl, survived the crash. Her grandparents and three siblings, ages 8, 9 and 10, all died when Young’s vehicle veered into their lane and forced their vehicle to crash into a stone hill.

The 14-year-old, according to court records, survived but she suffered a broken arm, broken wrist and encountered extreme physical pain as a result of the collision.

After the accident, Young was given a breath alcohol test and posted samples of .171 and .20, well above the legal limit of 0.08. Witnesses also reported they had seen his vehicle weaving before the accident.

In his plea agreement, the prosecution agreed that his sentence would be between 15 and 25 years and the would judge split the difference.

During his sentencing, the 14-year-old survivor spoke about the physical and emotional injuries she had sustained as a result of the incident, other family members spoke about the deceased grandparents’ many contributions to their community, and the mother of the deceased children talked about their short lives, and how much they will be missed.

Before imposing sentence, Judge Steven Logan told the defendant: “It is now 12:07. The boys that you killed should be at school and in lunch hour, wondering if they are going to get chocolate milk or pizza in their lunches. That’s what they should be thinking right now, but you took all of that away from them when you drove drunk and killed them.”