He ran a red light in Pierce County and killed a motorcyclist. Here’s his sentence

A 54-year-old man who pleaded guilty to driving recklessly in Pierce County and running a red light, causing a three-vehicle collision that killed a motorcyclist , has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.

Jeff Braetan Downing was driving a Ford F150 on Canyon Road East in Frederickson at about 2:47 a.m. on Nov. 8, 2022 when prosecutors say he went through an intersection at 176th Street East on a static red light and hit a Honda CBR motorcycle. The impact pushed the motorcyclist into another car and forced his helmet off.

The motorcyclist, Robert Davies, 40, was transported to Tacoma General Hospital, where he died. Downing and the other driver were not injured.

Davies lived in Spanaway, and he was a father to an adult daughter. According to court records, the daughter, Davies’ sister and his cousin attended Downing’s sentencing hearing Friday and addressed Superior Court Judge Joseph Evans before sentence was imposed.

Downing was arrested at the scene after he admitted to drinking six “tall boy” beers earlier that night, according to court records. Prosecutors charged him with DUI vehicular homicide about six months later due to delays in toxicology testing, which found his blood-alcohol content was 0.09 when the blood draw was done at about 6:15 a.m.

Prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum that Downing’s “selfish” and “unnecessary” choice to drive impaired is what led to Davies’ death. But Downing was allowed to plead guilty May 21 to an amended vehicular homicide charge that dropped the DUI prong of vehicular homicide after his defense attorney, Michael Stewart, filed a motion April 9 to suppress evidence and statements obtained through “unlawful seizures.”

Deputy prosecuting attorney Miriam Norman wrote in court filings that the state believed it would prevail at a motion hearing, but that when the issues were presented to the victim’s family, it created some concern, and they desired “certainty and finality.”

Downing has no prior criminal history and has no other traffic offenses on his record, according to prosecutors. Per state law, when someone is convicted of vehicular homicide in a reckless manner and they have no previous serious traffic offenses, a court is allowed to render a sentence below the standard range.

The standard sentencing range for Downing was 6-and-a-half to 8-and-a-half years in prison. Prosecutors recommended 48 months, and Pierce County Superior Court Judge Joseph Evans ultimately imposed 42 months.