BROOMFIELD, Colo. — The man accused of killing a mother and her teenage son while driving drunk was sentenced to work release days before the fatal crash for a prior DUI, but was out of custody awaiting an open bed in the work release program.
Jose Menjivar, 37, is accused of causing the Dec. 12 crash near Main Street and Miramonte Boulevard in Broomfield that killed Melissa Powell and Riordan Powell. He was formally charged last week with vehicular homicide and other counts related to the crash.
According to an arrest affidavit from the Broomfield Police Department, witnesses estimated that Menjivar was driving his pickup between 80 mph and 100 mph in a 40 mph zone before the crash. Those witnesses reported that he passed several vehicles by driving on the double yellow centerline.
He struck Melissa Powell's vehicle as she made a left turn from Miramonte onto Main Street, the affidavit says. The force of the crash sent her vehicle into a tree. Melissa Powell was pronounced dead at the scene. Her son died at the hospital.
Menjivar was also taken to a hospital for his injuries. Officers inspected his vehicle and noticed "an overwhelming odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage," per the affidavit, along with at least two empty beer cans and an open beer case inside.
Court records show that Menjivar had multiple prior DUI convictions and had just been sentenced on Dec. 8 in Boulder County District Court for a DUI from 2016.
At the time, according to the 20th Judicial District Attorney's Office, prosecutors argued for Menjivar to be sentenced to one year in jail effective immediately. A spokeswoman for the DA's office said that prosecutors believed Menjivar was a "danger to the community" and argued for jail time.
“This is terrible,” said Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty. “I’m not sure how else to put it except that this is absolutely horrific. This should never have happened. So we, as an office, look at this case and we do believe our prosecutor did the absolutely right thing, and that’s what I’ve told him because he’s devastated by it, of course, too. But I told him he did the right thing. The sentence he argued for and fought for, in my mind, was the right one.”
However, the judge ordered Menjivar to be sentenced to 365 days of work release instead. Over an objection from the DA's office, Menjivar was allowed to wait out of custody for a bed in the work release program to open up.
He was free and waiting for that bed at the time of the crash that killed Melissa Powell and her son Riordan. According to the DA's office, the one year of work release would have required Menjivar to remain in jail except when authorized to leave for work.
At sentencing, the judge noted that Menjivar had served 100 days in jail earlier in the case and then tested sober for a significant period of time while the case was pending. The DA's office acknowledged those were significant factors but said they still recommended straight jail time.
Court proceedings for the 2016 case were delayed because Menjivar failed to appear for hearings multiple times. He failed to show up for a December 2016 court date and wasn't detained on a warrant until nearly three years later in May 2019, court records show. He failed to appear for a court hearing the following month and missed subsequent hearings in 2020, and 2021 before finally pleading guilty in June of this year.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Investigations & Crime