We continue to be horrified by the deafening silence from Colorado's political class…that is all of you, on both sides of the aisle…over the tragic tale of state Senator Suzanne Williams' vehicular homicide about 1 year ago. This may be the biggest ignored story in Colorado politics in the last year. We truly can’t believe that no elected official has lifted a finger over this. It is a sad and terrible tragedy that is entirely lacking justice.
In Texas last year, Senator Williams was driving with her family, either heavily fatigued or distracted, according to the Texas Highway Patrol report (PDF), and lost control of her vehicle, swerving into oncoming traffic and killing the pregnant driver of another vehicle. In the haunting 911 tapes obtained by Complete Colorado, you can hear the children of the deceased driver calling out for their mother after the accident.
The car accident caused Senator Williams' grandchildren, who were not in the necessary restraints, to be tossed from the car. Before police arrived on the scene, Senator Williams picked up her grandchildren and put them back in their car seats, thereby tampering with crime scene evidence. She then lied to investigators when they asked if anyone had been ejected from the car.
In its report the Texas Highway Patrol recommended charges of "Criminally Negligent Homicide for the death of Brianna Gomez, Injury to a Child (x4) for injuries sustained in the crash on Mali Gomez, Eleri Gomez, Tyler Williams and Tristan Williams and Tampering with Physical Evidence."
The Grand Jury decided not to indict Senator Williams, which left the father of the deceased driver upset. He told the Amarillo Globe News at the time:
It's a shame (the DPS) went through that amount of investigation for the district attorney not to do anything," White said. "I don't like the idea she gets off scot-free. She's got to live with it the rest of her life."
Now, for the latest outrage.
The Associated Press reported last Friday that the only punishment Senator Williams will face is paying a measly $200 fine for driving on the wrong side of the road. Originally, Senator Williams pled not guilty to the traffic violation, but later changed to a guilty plea.
The AP also reported that Williams' insurance company has been fighting the victims' family's insurance company over payment, but the victim's father told the AP that he hoped Williams' guilty plea to the traffic violation would help resolve that impasse.
This has been a truly horrifying and sickening story.
We continue to believe that the Senate should empanel a committee to review Williams' fitness to serve.
Attention Colorado media: Is there any doubt that you would have hung any Republican official from the highest post had it had been one of them who committed the offense?
This whole episode is a miserable tragedy.
The first tragedy is the loss of life.
The second tragedy is the lack of justice served as punishment to a reckless state Senator from Aurora. She has evaded justice in the criminal justice system in Texas, and in the political process in Colorado as well.
While the rest of the political class ignores this story, we believe someone needs to report and comment on it.
I’d be the first one calling for her to step down. She’s not the worst senator, even from Aurora (Morgan Carroll gets that title). Just appoint Terry Todd to her seat already.
I don’t give a shit about the politics of it, Williams is highly ineffective, most of her bills this year dealt with creation of license plates…who cares? My issue is that she doesn’t seem to think that killing a pregnant mother has any ramnifications beyond a $200 fine. Frankly it’s disappointing Kopp/or McNulty didn’t call for her to resign either.
I wouldn’t call for a Republican to step down, even if it was that dope Lundberg who did it. Not under these circumstances.
so she needs a conviction to realize killing a pregnant mother is bad form for a state senator?
I seem to recall Michael Garcia a Dem from Aurora stepped down after exposing his junk to a female lobbyist (before Twitter), yet no charges were filed, but he still stepped down. He was Speaker of the House with a future. She’s a shit-for-brains, narcissistic, and useless senator in a safe seat. It’s about the dignity of the office, not politics.
If she was “found to have lied,” the people of Texas decided it wasn’t up to felony charges.
This seems more to be pointless bitching about a legislator you can’t touch, than it is real concern about the people who died in that accident.
No one can do anything about the lack of criminal charges, but do you think Williams should avoid justice in the CO political system as well?
How can someone help craft transportation policy with the full faith and trust of voters when she was found to have lied to investigators at a crime scene?
Kind of hard to take at face value when it comes out after the fact.
Better take that up with the Texas grand jury that refused to indict her. I see one fool here thinks its because she was a “Democrat in a strong Democrat [sic] district” but that doesn’t make any sense – that doesn’t cross state lines as far as I know.
The safe Democrat angle pertains to the lack of political justice, not the criminal charges.
Why hasn’t the Democrat controlled Senate moved to replace Williams? If it was a competitive seat, you can be damn sure she’d be bounced out of office faster than you can say “vehicular homicide.”
First, we need to go through the criminal case. As it stands, she was convicted of a misdemeanor. She went through the entire justice system in Texas – Texas, where the love frying criminals and now won’t even let them choose their final suppers. A Grand Jury said there wasn’t enough evidence for felony charges.
Now then, if you want her to resign her seat here in the GA – if you want political pressure to come to bear because of a misdemeanor charge – are you ready to ask every politician to quit when they earn these kinds of convictions? Do you want the bar to be that high?
This wasn’t just some fender bender accident or petty misdemeanor. Senator Williams was found to have lied to investigators and tampered with crime scene evidence.
Considering she was on the transportation committee and pushed for stricter seat belt laws, yet didn’t have her grandchildren in them, makes her a hypocrite.
So she’s a lying, cheating hypocrite. Regardless of the grand jury’s decision to ignore the Texas state troopers’ recommendation there should be political justice back home.
She has no credibility and makes a mockery of the legislature by continuing to serve. She needs to go. That doesn’t mean every misdemeanor charge should result in legislative expulsion. But this case sure does.
a mother DIED at her hands…a $200 fine?
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – MLK
Apparently, it’s one set of rules for the political “ruling class,” another set for the citizenry (er, subjects).
if you are a Democrat in a strong Democrat district you can do just about anything you want to and the press won’t care.
At the very least the (tampered with) actions of this “Senator” resulted in a Christmas homicide that could have been easily avoided, and a family now has no mother.
Cost for this elected official?? …$200. Period.
Sad.