AUSTIN (KXAN) — The family of 20-year-old Colton Roberts thought a guilty plea and prison sentence for the man who killed him meant closure and justice, but the case is now in the hands of the state’s highest criminal court as the defendant’s attorneys filed a petition for a discretionary review, according to court records.
Scott Taylor pleaded guilty in August 2023 to intoxication manslaughter for the August 2021 crash that killed Roberts. The crash happened on Jollyville Road just after 9 p.m., right before Roberts was set to return to class at the University of Texas Dallas.
“I’ll never get past the loss of Colton, grief doesn’t end,” said his mother Tanya. She and many others describe him as a vibrant, kind person who loved the outdoors. There’s a scholarship in his name at UT-Dallas.
KXAN spoke with Tanya alongside the family’s attorney, Amber Russell — two years after Taylor pleaded guilty in a Travis County courtroom…