Man Who Crashed Truck, Killed 2-Year-Old Gets Probation
Dec 6, 2018, 12:41 PM
PROVO, Utah – A man who pleaded guilty to criminal negligence after he crashed his truck into a car, killing 2-year-old girl in April, walked free Thursday.
Rick Davis Winder’s sentencing was held at the Provo Courthouse where he was given one year probation. He was facing the possibility of 12 months behind bars.
“This has been a process,” said Reed Parkinson, the father of 2-year-old Chelsea Parkinson, who was killed in the crash. “We miss our daughter of course so much, but we realized that Rick is a real person. He is a human being. It took a little while to realize that, but once we did, we were able to forgive him.”
The family, who flew in from Colorado and was only visiting at the time of the accident, asked the judge to sentence Winder to zero jail time, feeling it would only cause harm to Winder’s own family.
Prior to sentencing, Winder’s attorney and the Parkinsons met during a private meeting at the Provo Library where they saw first-hand his remorse.
Winder apologized again to them Thursday.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t wish I could take that little girl’s place,” said Winder.
Winder’s blood test results showed he was not under the influence of any prescription medication.
However, those results didn’t matter to the Parkinson. They were full of forgiveness regardless.
“We know that our daughter Chelsea hated contention,” said Chelsea’s mother, Caitlin Parkinson. “She hated whenever anyone was mad, so why should we be any different? Why is it OK if we are so full of anger and hatred? That would just drive us away from her and her memory.”
Winder’s probation started immediately, and he will also serve 400 hours community service to be completed in 18 months.
