ST. GEORGE — The 20-year-old driver in an auto-pedestrian crash that left one man critically injured won’t be going to prison — for now.
File photo of a Mini Cooper that is damaged after striking a pedestrian who was seriously injured on West 100 South in Hurricane, June 30, 2023 | File photo courtesy of the Hurricane Police Department, St. George News
The defendant, Brianna Marie Boykin, of Hurricane, appeared in 5th District Court in St. George for a sentencing hearing held last month. She entered a no-contest plea to one third-degree felony count of negligently operating a motor vehicle resulting in serious bodily injury. A no-contest plea means the defendant accepts the conviction but avoids the factual admission of guilt. This plea must be approved by the court.
Several misdemeanor charges, including DUI, minor in possession of alcohol and paraphernalia, driving without insurance and an infraction for driving left of center, were dismissed under the terms of the plea agreement.
Auto-pedestrian crash
In the early morning hours of June 30, officers responded to the area of 6425 W. 100 South, just southeast of state Route 9 in Hurricane, on a report of an auto-pedestrian crash. Officers say they arrived to find a critically injured 23-year-old man who was then transported to St. George Regional Hospital by ambulance, according to a statement released by the Hurricane Police Department in June.
The man suffered several blunt force trauma injuries during impact, including a fractured arm, several head lacerations and an “aorta valve problem,” which left him in critical condition, according to plea documents filed in the courts in October.
Investigators discovered there were two other passengers in the vehicle Boykin was driving, as well as a pedestrian who was walking in the roadway with the man who was hit. None of them were at the scene when officers arrived.
Booking photo of 20-year-old Brianna Marie Boykin, of Hurricane, taken after a crash that seriously injured a pedestrian on June 30, 2023 | Booking photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News
Investigators from the Washington County Accident Reconstruction Team worked throughout the night and concluded that five individuals involved had reportedly attended a party in the area of the Shadow Ridge Subdivision earlier that evening. They also determined that “impairment combined with speed and possible reckless driving” on the part of the driver played a significant role in this incident.
Nov. 8 sentencing hearing
During the sentencing hearing presided over by District Judge Eric Gentry, the prison sentence of 0-5 years was suspended. Boykin was ordered to serve five days in jail with credit for the five days she had already served following her June arrest. Boykin was placed on 18 months’ bench probation and ordered to pay a $1,383 fine, in addition to obtaining a substance abuse evaluation and completing any recommended treatment.
Additionally, she was ordered to have an ignition interlock device installed on her vehicle, according to sentencing documents filed Nov. 8.
At the time of the incident in June, Boykin was in a nine-month plea and abeyance agreement with the courts after she was charged with reckless driving on Feb. 25. During a hearing held two weeks before the crash, the court ordered the charge to be held in abeyance and then dismissed if she complied with the courts and had no further violations for a nine-month period ending in February 2024. That case is still active in the courts.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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