Courts: Former San Jose City Council candidate sentenced to six months in jail for crash that killed a 66-year-old pedestrian.
Former council candidate’s six-month sentence is denounced by the DA and family of victim
During an emotional hearing on July 20, former San Jose City Council candidate Jennifer Higgins was sentenced to serve six months in jail for fatally striking a 66-year-old pedestrian — described as “a lifeforce” — with her SUV.
Over the objection of the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, Superior Judge Jose Franco reduced Higgins’ felony charge for vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence to a misdemeanor for the December 2019 crash that killed Timothy Starkey of Santa Cruz.
Franco said he based his decision to reduce the charge on multiple factors, including Higgins’ age, her clean criminal record and her overall character, adding that it “in no way reflects the loss suffered in this case.”
Higgins is expected to start serving her sentence in Santa Clara County jail in late September — 21 months after the fatal crash. She is also required to complete 350 hours of uncompensated community service, pay $183,857 in restitution to Starkey’s family, go through a psychiatric evaluation and adhere to a two-year probation period.
“I have truly wanted to say sorry to the Starkey family, but I feel that there are not enough words to express how truly sorry I am for your loss,” Higgins said through tears at the hearing. “And your honor, I want you to know that whatever you tell me I need to do, I will do 100%.”
Higgins was first charged with felony vehicular manslaughter in July 2020, and then in April pleaded no contest, which essentially has the same effect as a guilty plea but prevents the conviction from being used as evidence in any corresponding civil litigation.
Starkey’s family issued a statement after the hearing, saying that they were “deeply disappointed” in the sentence, calling it “nothing more than a slap on the wrist.”
“That the woman who carelessly gambled with and took his life from us should get off with such a light sentence is an insult and affront to our family and the many people whose lives he touched,” the statement read. “We are profoundly downhearted, but this is not the end of our quest for justice.”
The fatal crash happened at about 11:40 a.m. on Dec. 16, 2019, in the 900 block of Blossom Hill Road in Los Gatos, according to the police report.
Higgins veered her SUV out of her lane and beyond a five-foot bike lane before striking Starkey who was standing behind a parked vehicle on the north shoulder of the roadway, according to court records.
Starkey, who was reportedly grabbing supplies out of his vehicle to help a friend hang up Christmas lights, died immediately after being struck by Higgins’ SUV.
Witnesses at the scene told authorities that prior to the crash Higgins was “swerving and unable to maintain her lane.” In the police report, officers noted that she was unable to remember why she veered out of her lane approximately six to eight feet and that she had trouble “focusing and articulating her thoughts or answering simple questions.”
At the time of the crash, Higgins was under the influence of benzodiazepine — a class of medication that includes Xanax and Klonopin and is typically prescribed for anxiety, depression
and insomnia, according to court documents. Those taking benzodiazepine are advised not to drive while on it, as it can cause weakness and dizziness and impair driving. Higgins was reportedly traveling between San Jose City Hall and her doctor’s office in Los Gatos at the time of the crash.
In arguing to keep the felony charge in place, Deputy District Attorney Montana Musso stated that the evidence showed that Higgins was “clearly driving with a high level of distraction.”
“This was not just a moment of inattention,” Musso said. “This was a decision to continue driving when she realized that she was too distracted… and this resulted in the death of Timothy Starkey and that is an event that cannot be revisited.”
Advocating for the reduced charge, Higgins defense attorney, Josh Bentley, told the court that Higgins was not intoxicated nor on her cell phone at the time of the crash, adding that she could have lied about what happened but chose not to.
“Higgins owned her responsibility at the scene and has never wavered from that,” he said during the hearing, taking the blame for advising Higgins not to reach out to the family and offer her sympathy after the crash and throughout the course of the criminal process.
At the time, she had been running — under the name Jenny Higgins Bradanini — for a seat on the San Jose City Council to represent the city’s Almaden Valley area. She took a brief hiatus from the campaign trail after the crash but later resumed her efforts and placed third in the March primary.
A life lost
More than a dozen of Starkey’s family members and friends attended the hearing, passing around tissues and holding one another’s hands, while his wife of 37 years, Kathleen, and two children, Bridget and Joseph, each read statements in his honor.
They described him as a loyal husband, father and friend — a “lifeforce” and “can-fix-anything man” with a “larger-than-life presence.”
Starkey spent most of his career as a vice president of operations at various technology companies across California, including one position that had him flying back and forth from Los Angeles to the Bay Area each week because he didn’t want to force his family to move. Upon retiring from corporate life, he began working as a handyman in Santa Cruz.
Kathleen said he had dreams of growing his handyman business and spending his retirement doing what he loved most — helping others.
“He had a great zest for life,” she said. “His absence from our lives is enormous.
“I go to sleep at night missing him and I wake up in the morning thinking about him and all of the plans we had for our future — all damaged.”
Despite their immense loss, Kathleen and her children all agreed that the glue holding them together most is the reminder of just how deeply Starkey cared for them.
“It’s unfortunate that this is the reason I am sharing these stories about my dad, Tim Starkey, but I feel very fortunate that he never missed a moment to demonstrate or tell me how much he loved me,” Bridget said. “I find comfort through this tragic experience knowing that nothing went unsaid or acknowledged.”