He drove high on cannabis in Puyallup and fatally struck woman. Here’s his sentence
A driver who was high on marijuana when he struck and killed a 64-year-old woman on a Puyallup street has been sentenced to about two-and-a-half years in prison.
Isaac Keith Syph, 36, pleaded guilty June 8 in Pierce County Superior Court to vehicular homicide and felony driving under the influence for the Oct. 28, 2021, incident near the South Hill Mall.
Prosecutors recommended he serve 31 months in prison, according to court filings, the low end of the standard sentencing range for defendants prosecuted in similar cases.
Judge Garold Johnson on Friday handed down that punishment and ordered him to undergo a substance abuse evaluation. Court records show Syph had several prior felony convictions between 2003 and 2009, including for second-degree robbery and first-degree burglary in King County. He was also convicted of first-degree driving while license suspended in 2011.
Syph was driving east on 39th Avenue Southwest just before 11:30 p.m. when he switched lanes to pass a car stopped near the curb and hit Linda Lou Lee, who had gotten out of her car, according to charging documents. Puyallup police said officers determined that Lee’s car had run out of gas.
Officers and emergency responders tried to save the woman’s life, police said, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. The Pierce County medical examiner later determined she died of multiple blunt force injuries.
Syph’s license was suspended at the time, and officers reportedly smelled marijuana on him. The man allegedly told officers he was driving 30-35 mph when the collision occurred. A blood draw later determined he had about 11 nanograms per milliliter of THC, the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, in his system within two hours of driving. The legal limit is 5.0.
He was originally charged with DUI vehicular homicide, but prosecutors wrote in court filings that the offense was reduced to vehicular homicide with disregard for the safety of others because evidence issues arose while the case was pending.
