Anguish, devastation in Adams County courtroom

As the handcuffs clicked tight around Kimberly Rodriguez Roldan’s wrists Friday, her parents, her husband and other family members collapsed on the benches and floor in an Adams County courtroom and wailed.

In a hallway just outside the courtroom, Rodriguez Roldan’s 6yearold daughter waited for her mother’s sentencing hearing to end. But Rodriguez Roldan did not walk out the courtroom’s door.

Instead, she was led away by sheriff’s deputies to begin serving a 26year prison sentence for killing Miguel Ramirez, 47, and his 17yearold son, Michael, in a Jan. 27 drunkendriving crash on Interstate 25.

Moments earlier, Rodriguez Roldan apologized for the crash and told Adams County District Judge Tomee Crespin that she had made a mistake.

“I take a little exception to that,” Crespin said before announcing the sentence. “Mrs. Roldan, you didn’t make a mistake. You made a choice.”

Rodriguez Roldan, 25, pleaded guilty in August to two counts of vehicular homicide, one count of vehicular assault and two counts of careless driving.

Rodriguez Roldan told police that she had been drinking pineapple juice and whiskey, and three hours after the wreck her bloodalcohol content was 0.142, nearly double the amount that is considered intoxicated under Colorado law. Toxicology tests also found active THC in her bloodstream from marijua na and a compound that was indicative of cocaine use, said Jake Woods, deputy district attorney.

Crespin gave Rodriguez Roldan 10 years in prison on each count of vehicular homicide, four years for the vehicular assault charge and a year on each careless driving charge. She ordered the sentences to be served consecutively.

The crash devastated two families — Rodriguez Roldan’s and the Ramirezes, Crespin said.

“It was your choice you made that will have decimating and devastating consequences,” she said.

The Ramirez family was driving north in an I25 HOV lane near 58th Avenue when Rodriguez Roldan slammed her Jeep Grand Cherokee headon into the family’s Honda CRV. It was 5:52 p.m., and the Ramirez family was driving home after picking up Maria MuroPalacios, Miguel Ramirez’s wife and Michael’s mother, from her job at a hotel.

Miguel Ramirez died at the scene, using his last breath to say Michael’s name, according to courtroom testimony. Michael Ramirez died at a hospital, and Maria MuroPalacios suffered multiple broken bones and a neck injury. She is disabled and lost her job — the family’s last income source.

Salma Ramirez, a senior at the University of Denver, was injured in the wreck. A fifth person was hurt as well, Woods said.

Rodriguez Roldan also suffered injuries so severe that paramedics on scene resuscitated her, said George Gonzalez, her defense attorney.

The wreck forced Salma Ramirez to plan funerals for her father and brother because her mother was hurt so badly. She considered dropping out of college because she was worried about medical bills, but support from DU and the community have allowed her to stay on track, said Jacqueline Jeske, a family friend.

Rodriguez Roldan did not have auto insurance, so the family has not been able to file a financial claim against her, Jeske said. Each time a bill collector calls, MuroPalacios is forced to explain the accident and ask for debt forgiveness. The Ramirez women have gotten by because of donations, many of them anonymous, Jeske said.

Before the wreck, Miguel Ramirez was the only one in the family who knew how to drive; the family had only one car. Since then, Salma Ramirez has had to overcome her fear of crashing and learn to drive so she can take her mother to medical appointments, Jeske said. Each time she drives on I25 to her mother’s house from college, she must pass the accident scene.

Members of the Ramirez family lived a modest life but were known for their generosity and kind spirits.

Jeske met the Ramirez family when her daughter moved into DU’s dorms as Salma Ramirez’s freshman roommate. She was worried about leaving her child, but Miguel Ramirez assured Jeske that her daughter would have someone watching out for her in Denver.

“He said not to worry. ‘We will look out for her. She will be our second daughter,’ ” Jeske said.