Eastyn K. Tueller, now 22, is serving a one-to-15-year prison sentence for a 2022 crash that killed a 61-year-old woman. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole heard Tueller’s request for release Tuesday. She told the board she had changed since the crash and hoped to use her experience to warn teenagers about drinking and driving, KSL reported.
KSL reported that on Dec. 26, 2022, Tueller was driving a 2020 Kia Rio north on 900 West at 98 mph in a 35 mph zone. She ran a red light at 600 North and struck a 2012 Ford Escape, according to KSL. Tueller told the board she had drunk a half case of beer; the outlet reported her blood-alcohol level was later measured at 0.16%.
The two people in the Ford were extricated and taken to a hospital in critical and extremely critical condition, KSL reported. One later died. KSL identified her as Rose Elena Mendez-Leyva, 61; KUTV (KMYU) identified her as Rosa Elena Mendez, 61. Tueller was also seriously injured. She told the board she had to relearn how to walk, talk and eat.
Alcohol-Related Fatalities in Utah
Alcohol-related fatalities accounted for 16% of all traffic fatalities in Utah from 2018 to 2022, according to a Utah Department of Public Safety report. The figure describes the share over that five-year period; the report finding cited here does not establish whether that share rose or fell.
From Manslaughter Charge to a Prison Sentence
Tueller was initially charged with manslaughter and negligently operating a vehicle resulting in death, both second-degree felonies, along with other crimes, KSL reported. In 2024, she pleaded guilty to negligently operating a vehicle resulting in death and negligently operating a vehicle resulting in serious injury. She was sentenced to one to 15 years in Utah State Prison. If she serves the full term, her sentence would not expire until 2039, the account noted…