He sped in University Place, fatally struck driver at a stop sign. Here’s his sentence
A 24-year-old man who took a turn at high speed in University Place and went into the wrong lane of traffic, colliding with a vehicle at a stop sign and killing its driver, was sentenced Friday to two-and-a-half years in prison.
Dylan Matthew Walsh pleaded guilty in November in Pierce County Superior Court to vehicular homicide for the June 25, 2022 wreck, admitting to recklessly causing the death of 65-year-old Gayle Aronson.
Judge Stanley Rumbaugh imposed the sentence, which was near the middle of the standard sentencing range and a year shorter than prosecutors had agreed to recommend. Walsh had no prior criminal convictions or traffic offenses.
Prosecutors and the defense agreed to a downward adjustment of the standard range as part of a plea agreement, according to court records, bringing the range from 6.5 to 8.5 years in prison to a range of about 1.8 to 3.5 years.
The three-car wreck occurred at Grandview Drive West and 35th Street West shortly before 6 p.m. According to court documents, a witness told police she was stopped at the intersection when a 2005 Ford Excursion driven by Walsh struck the back of her vehicle, went around her and abruptly turned left.
The Ford crossed over to the wrong side of the road and struck Aronson’s 2014 Volkswagen Jetta head on. A witness rendered aid to Aronson. She was declared dead when West Pierce Fire & Rescue personnel arrived.
Prosecutors originally accused Walsh of driving drunk — witnesses reportedly smelled alcohol on his breath — but toxicology testing later found his blood-alcohol content was 0.017, below the legal limit of 0.08.
“Despite the Defendant’s lack of history, the evidence shows that Mr. Walsh caused the death of [Aronson] by driving with alcohol on board, speeding, and engaging in dangerous driving,” deputy prosecuting attorney Miriam Norman wrote in a sentencing memo. “But for those choices, [Aronson] would be alive.”
