Man pleads guilty to vehicular homicide in 2021 crash that killed CSU Pueblo student
A man has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in a 2021 crash that killed one Colorado State University Pueblo student and severely injured another.
Brandon Andersen-Parrado, 25, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and vehicular assault in an Oct. 27 plea deal with 10th Judicial District Attorney Jeff Chostner. In exchange for his guilty plea, all other remaining charges against Andersen-Parrado were dropped.
Andersen-Parrado was originally charged with vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, DUI, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, reckless driving, speeding, and driving an unsafe motor vehicle.
While the plea agreement did not stipulate an exact prison sentence, it states that if Andersen-Parrado is sentenced to the Colorado Department of Corrections, he will not serve more than 12 years.
He will also be ordered to pay restitution to the victims or families of the victims in the case.
Andersen-Parrado was charged after a fatal crash on the night of Sept. 11, 2021, in which CSU Pueblo student Jillian Abrian was killed.
Investigators said he, Abrian, and a third person — all of whom were students at the university at the time — agreed to split a pizza while at a social gathering with other CSU Pueblo students.
Andersen-Parrado drove to avoid a delivery fee, according to an arrest affidavit.
After the three left the CSU Pueblo campus, investigators say the passenger who later was injured in the crash texted her friends to say she was worried about Andersen-Parrado's driving. She later said in a written statement to the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office that when she told Andersen-Parrado his driving was scaring her, he laughed and said they were "having fun."
On the way back from grabbing the pizza, Andersen-Parrado's Ford Mustang wrecked while traveling northbound on Baxter Road near the corner of Daniels Road. Andersen-Parrado told deputies he had been going about 65 mph in the 45 mph zone when he left the roadway and rolled his vehicle.
The sheriff's office later determined the vehicle went off the right side of Baxter Road approaching Daniel Road. The vehicle traveled approximately 165 feet before striking a raised culvert and going airborne for 92 feet before hitting the ground and rolling, at which point everyone in the vehicle was ejected, according to the affidavit.
Abrian was killed when the vehicle rolled over her, causing multiple blunt-force trauma injuries, according to testimony from a PCSO deputy in October 2022.
Andersen-Parrado and the other victim, who was 19 years old, were transported to a local hospital. The 19-year-old's injuries included a broken jaw, broken bones around the eyes, and multiple skull fractures requiring facial reconstruction surgery.
Deputies observed a "moderate" odor of alcohol on Andersen-Parrado's breath and noticed he had bloodshot, watery eyes at the scene of the crash when he was being treated at a local hospital.
One deputy also testified to seeing multiple alcoholic seltzer beverages among the debris from the crash and deputy Joshua Beckwith said he also noted an odor of alcohol at the scene.
A PCSO captain also testified that witnesses told the PCSO that they believed Andersen-Parrado was drunk before attending the party from which he left with the two victims.
Andersen-Parrado is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 22 in the court of Judge Thomas Flesher.
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This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Man pleads guilty to vehicular homicide in 2021 fatal crash in Pueblo
