Brittany Dee, the Utah woman who in 2023 left the scene of a crash which left a Durango motorcyclist missing her lower left leg, was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison, the maximum allowable under the terms of a plea agreement.
The 25-year-old woman pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, a class 4 felony, in 6th Judicial District Court before Judge Nathaniel Baca. She then went downstairs to La Plata County Court and pleaded guilty to driving under the influence on which she was arrested on July 4.
Judge Reid Stewart sentenced her to three years’ probation and 60 days in jail on that charge, which took into account her 47 days in custody. Dee will serve the probation concurrent to the mandatory three years’ parole that will follow her prison term.
The two-year sentence is the low end of a presumptive penalty that ranges from two to six years in prison had she been found guilty by a jury. But it is also far more than the 90 days in jail and probation for which her attorney petitioned.
Dee, clad in blue jail scrubs and shackles, addressed the judge and a courtroom filled with about 40 people divided evenly between the two sides, in sparse words. She apologized multiple times in a gentle statement punctuated by lengthy pauses.
“I’m so sorry for the events that took place, especially to Ms. Wages,” she said, occasionally glancing toward the 71-year-old seated in the first row.
The proceedings brought to a close over a year of strife for both Dee and Jeanette Wages, the motorcyclist who was hit.
Dee was driving her boyfriend’s Ford F-150 pickup on July 23, 2023, when she tried to make a left turn into a parking lot on East Eighth Avenue near Third Street in Durango. She failed to yield to Wages, who was driving a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in the opposite direction. The impact of the crash sent Wages flying 26 feet into the curb, she said Tuesday.
A male passenger exited the vehicle briefly before he got back in and the vehicle left. Onlookers helped police identify the truck, which an officer recognized from an interaction the previous day. Law enforcement contacted Dee, who fled to Aneth, Utah, by phone and she agreed to surrender.
Dee was also driving her boyfriend’s truck when multiple people called 911 on July 4 to report that a vehicle, later identified as the one Dee was driving, was headed south on U.S. Highway 550 swerving and driving on the wrong side of the road.
Wages, who wore a prosthetic leg and walked to the lectern with an uneven gait on Tuesday, said Dee was “on a very destructive path.”
“It’s a no-win situation,” Wages said after the hearing. “I’m just very pleased that Judge Baca realizes what’s going on. He’s compassionate but responsible.”
Dee’s family, too, expressed relief at the result.
During a hearing in March at which Baca declined to accept a plea deal that would have limited Dee’s incarceration to 90 days in jail, the judge indicated that a prison sentence was warranted.
“I’m relieved that the judge didn’t try to follow his pattern and push it forward (reject the plea),” said Christina Morgan, a close relative of Dee’s.
The hearing was also the first substantive opportunity Dee, her family and her attorney have had to share in-depth reflections on the incident and Dee’s character.
Members of Dee’s family, who are Navajo, traveled several hours from across the Four Corners to appear in court over the last year. They painted a picture Tuesday of a young woman with deep care for her community, who nurtured her great-grandmother to the age of 110 and who has struggled to come out of her shell.
Dee did not speak until the age of 6, her aunt Yanua Morgan told the court, and has always had difficulty expressing herself.
“We were shocked when we heard this, that she was in this situation,” Morgan said.
Beale Tejada, Dee’s attorney, said he wanted to provide perspective, not a justification or an excuse, but an explanation of what happened.
What Wages and her community described as apparent callousness – the motorcyclist had bone shards protruding from her leg and another on the ground – was actually more complicated.
Witnesses were yelling unkind things at Dee, her family said, and passengers in the car told her to flee.
“She should not have caved to the pressure inside the car,” Tejada said.
He cited the influence of Dee’s boyfriend as a factor, as Dee’s brother, Mckale Dee, wrote in a letter to the judge.
“I never really approved of their relationship but out of respect to my sister I accepted it,” Mckale wrote. “But I definitely feel like he has had some sort of influence on her and not in a good way.”
In interviews after the proceedings, Dee’s relatives said it has been difficult to see Brittany, a soft-spoken baker who lives her life with grace, vilified on a public stage.
“It really takes time for her to open up,” her sister, Latifa Dee, said. “... She’s funny, she has all these interests, she’s kind of like a little nerdish.”
In ceremonies and prayer since the crash, Dee and her family said they have always uttered Wages’ name.
In an aberration from the generally procedural remarks from the bench, Baca seemed to take stock of Dee, her personality and the role that alcohol had come to play in her life. He said he saw someone who struggled to be a part of this world, a struggle ameliorated by alcohol.
“It’s not a drink at that point, it’s a lifestyle,” he said.
Baca indicated that the two-year cap on a sentence was insufficient – “Frankly, the two-year sentence doesn’t do a whole lot for the community,” he said – and told Dee “you have to turn back.”
Wages said hearing more about Dee did not make it easier to reckon with the young woman’s actions. But she, too, advocated for Dee to seek help for substance use and counseling.
“I hope she’s able to turn herself around and become a responsible person,” Wages said.
In concluding her remarks to the judge, Dee expressed remorse, but seemed to verify the characterizations of her that family members had just made.
“I can’t think of anything else to say other than I’m really sorry,” she said.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
