'It wasn't an accident,' mother of daughter killed in DUI crash tells parole board
by Pat Reavy ksl · KSL.comKEY TAKEAWAYS
- Jonathan Analco-Cruz, 35, goes before Utah Board of Pardons following automobile homicide conviction.
- He admitted wrongdoing but victim's mother, Ida Garcia, doubts he's taken responsibility.
- Three people were killed in the 2014 crash.
SALT LKAE CITY — Jonathan Ulises Analco-Cruz says he grew up surrounded by drinking and drug use.
Because of that, Analco-Cruz admits he drank a lot by the time he was 24. But he didn't believe he had a problem, particularly when it came to drinking and driving because, as he told the Board of Pardons and Parole on Tuesday, he never got in trouble or hurt anyone.
That all changed on May 17, 2014, when police at the Salt Lake City International Airport attempted to pull Analco-Cruz over for going 60 mph in a 35 mph zone. But rather than stop, Cruz sped away toward I-80, reaching a speed of 103 mph before losing control near the I-215 interchange where his car rolled.
All three passengers in Analco-Cruz's vehicle — Michaela Martin, 18, of Taylorsville, Hardinger Cruz, 17, of Salt Lake City, and Randy Ruiz, 14, of Midvale — were killed. Analco-Cruz was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
Marijuana and an empty beer can were found inside the crashed vehicle. Analco-Cruz's blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.21% and THC was detected in his system. Utah's legal limit at the time was 0.08%.
Analco-Cruz pleaded guilty to two counts of DUI automobile homicide, a second-degree felony. A third count of automobile homicide was dismissed as part of a plea deal. He was sentenced to up to 15 years in the Utah State Prison.
On Tuesday, Analco-Cruz, now 35, went before the Board of Pardons for the first time.
Speaking in a soft voice, Analco-Cruz admitted the way he treated alcohol, marijuana and driving at the time was wrong. And when he tried to speed away from police before crashing, "My fear got the best me…to the point where I was trying to avoid every consequence that there is."
But Ida Garcia, the mother of Michaela Noel Martin, who was Analco-Cruz's girlfriend at the time, told the board on Tuesday that she does not believe Analco-Cruz has ever taken responsibility for his actions. Being around drugs and alcohol his entire life, is "not an excuse," Garcia said.
"We all have family members who have been through the same thing and they did not kill innocent people," she said. "It wasn't an accident…When you're drinking and driving, you know something's going to happen."
Garcia said a driver may get "lucky" one time and get away with drinking and driving, but eventually something will happen.
"Drugs and alcohol is not an excuse of why you did what you did," she said. "You're breaking the law and there's consequences. Fifteen years isn't even long enough.
"They were kids, He was a full adult. He shouldn't have even been hanging out with them," Garcia continued.
The grieving mother became emotional when she talked about all the life moments she and her family have been deprived of because of Midhaela's death.
"That's not fair," she said several times.
When asked if he had any response to her comments, Analco-Cruz talked about missing his friends.
"I can't take any of this pain away from (their families), but I'll take it with me the rest of my life," he said. "I do everything I can to move forward."
Analco-Cruz says he has accepted responsibility and will learn from his mistakes, and that everything he does "is for them."
"I constantly miss them," he said. "I'm here asking for a second chance."
The full five member board will now vote on whether to grant parole. If Analco-Cruz serves his full sentence, he will be released in 2029. It was noted during the hearing that Analco-Cruz also had an immigration detainer placed on him since being incarcerated, meaning once he is released he will potentially face additional action from the Department of Homeland Security,
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.