Arizona man charged after fatal crash in Utah nearly 4 years ago
Nov 30, 2023, 3:14 PM
One man was killed by being ejected from a vehicle in a rollover crash Dec. 11, 2019. Brennan Kinlachleeny, 32, of Kayenta, Arizona, was charged Thursday in Utah's 7th District Court with automobile homicide. (Utah Highway Patrol)
(Utah Highway Patrol)
MOAB — An arrest warrant has been issued for an Arizona man accused of causing a fatal crash about four years ago near the Utah-Colorado border.
Brennan Kinlachleeny, 32, of Kayenta, Arizona, was charged Thursday in Utah’s 7th District Court with automobile homicide, a second-degree felony; and DUI, a class B misdemeanor.
On Dec. 11, 2019, a Chevrolet Malibu crashed on I-70 in Grand County about seven miles from the Colorado border. Witnesses told investigators the car was traveling an estimated 130 mph when the driver apparently lost control and went off the right side of the road, according to charging documents. The vehicle rolled multiple times after sliding sideways down an embankment, coming to rest on its top.
Delvin W. Staley, 30, of Logan, was tossed from the car and was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, Kinlachleeny, was taken to a hospital in Colorado.
While inspecting the crashed vehicle, Utah Highway Patrol troopers “detected an overwhelmingly strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from inside the vehicle,” the charges state. Kinlachleeny’s blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.13%.
According to charging documents, Kinlachleeny has not returned to Utah since the crash, prompting prosecutors to issue an arrest warrant and request he be held in the Grand County Jail pending trial.
