Caldwell man receives 15-year prison sentence for crash that killed Nampa resident
A Caldwell man was sentenced Wednesday to a total of 15 years in prison for felony vehicular manslaughter after a head-on collision in Canyon County in January left a Nampa man dead.
Pedro Avalos, 31, pleaded guilty in July, six months after the midday Jan. 20 car wreck that killed Adam Hawthorne, 35, of Nampa. A crash investigation revealed that Avalos had a blood alcohol content of .134, well above the legal limit of 0.08, and was driving upwards of 129 mph when he veered into oncoming traffic along Idaho Highway 19 in Greenleaf, according to the Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office.
Avalos, driving a sedan, crossed the center line and struck the pickup truck driven eastbound by Hawthorne near the intersection of Simplot Boulevard and Notus Road just after 4:15 p.m. The Nampa resident was pronounced dead after an ambulance transported him to a nearby hospital.
“This case illustrates the tragic reality of drunk driving,” Canyon County Prosecutor Bryan Taylor said in a statement. “We had an innocent young man who lost his life because Mr. Avalos decided to drive both drunk and recklessly at speeds of over 100 mph. He belongs in prison for what he did, and I hope this case sends a message that impaired driving will not be tolerated in Canyon County.”
Avalos had a minor in his vehicle at the time of the collision and also faced a felony charge of injury to a child. The prosecutor’s office dropped that charge in an agreement for Avalos to plead guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter, according to court records.
Third District Judge Davis VanderVelde sentenced Avalos to five years fixed and 10 years indeterminate, meaning he won’t be eligible for parole until after five years. Avalos received credit for nearly a year behind bars while he awaited his formal sentence this week.
This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 12:05 PM.
