Man sentenced for fatal crash

A Lewiston man was sentenced for causing a drunken crash that killed a woman in southern Whitman County.

Sage Jones, 19, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in Whitman County Superior Court last month. Whitman County Judge Gary Libey showed mercy when sentencing Jones in court last Friday.

Jones was ordered to spend a little under a year of home electronic monitoring confinement, according to court records. He may leave his residence only for work and doctor’s appointments.

The judgment came from a new case law in Washington that allows judges to issue exceptionally low sentences for defendants who are under the age of 25. If Libey hadn’t handed out the exceptional sentence, Jones could have faced 15 months to life in prison.

Jones was responsible for the drunken crash that killed 19-year-old Chloe Sutton of Lewiston.

The case began when Washington State Patrol troopers responded to a one-car injury collision on Washington State Route 128 along the Snake River the evening of June 21.

When officers arrived at the scene, they noticed debris on the highway, as well as tire friction marks that crossed the entirety of both lanes and off the roadway. Another trooper observed empty alcohol bottles, a box of beer, a torch, a bag of prescription pills and fentanyl test strips, according to records.

Troopers found two people. Jones was reportedly injured and Sutton was declared deceased at the scene, according to records.

Jones was asked to perform a field sobriety test and showed signs of being intoxicated. He was then prompted to take breath samples and officers observed his blood alcohol content was at a 0.096, which was over the legal limit, according to records.

Emergency medical services took Jones to the St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston to be treated. Hospital staff told police that Jones admitted to alcohol usage, according to records.

A trooper checked on Jones at the hospital and noticed his eyes were bloodshot and watery, and his speech was slurred. The trooper asked Jones if he’d had too much alcohol and he nodded, according to records.

Jones told police he didn’t remember the crash. He said he was driving from his house in Lewiston, but didn’t remember where he was headed, according to records.

Officers determined Stutton had been wearing a seatbelt but Jones was not buckled up, according to records.

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com