AURORA | An Aurora man was sentenced last week to eight years in prison for a drunk driving accident in July 2015 that killed a 20-year-old female passenger, according to the office of the district attorney for the 18th Judicial District.
Avelyn Taylor, of Denver, died as a result of injuries received in a rollover crash early July 11, 2015, on the 1400 block of Kenton Street in Aurora. Michael Lee Hardiman, 26, pleaded guilty May 25 to vehicular homicide-DUI, a third-degree felony.
Taylor was thrown from Hardiman’s Chevy Trailblazer SUV at about 1 a.m. July 11, 2015, when the vehicle rolled over. She was trapped beneath the blue 2003 Chevrolet Blazer when police and emergency rescue officials arrived at the scene, in the backyard of the home at 1494 South Kenton Street, near East Florida Avenue.
Taylor was extricated and taken to a local hospital, where she later died from her injuries. The other three occupants of the vehicle, including Hardiman, were also hospitalized with less serious injuries.
An investigation determined Hardiman had been driving at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour before the crash, and with a blood-alcohol level of more than three times (0.247) the state’s 0.08 legal limit. Witnesses said Hardiman was also actively drinking while driving the morning of the accident.
Hardiman was sentenced Sept. 15 by Arapahoe District Court Judge Patricia Herron. At the hearing, Deputy District Attorney Megan Moriarty called Taylor “a light in this world” and said she was “taken … too soon.
District Attorney George H. Brauchler said the prison sentence was “the only appropriate sentence in this case.”