‘Life without Brooke’: Nampa family deals with DUI driver’s sentence — and their own

Every time Jay Taylor looks down the hallway in his home, he still expects to see his daughter, Brooke Taylor, emerge from her room and go to the kitchen for a pickle and a bagel topped with cream cheese and red onion.

Patty Taylor sees young women with their husbands walking down the street, and the sadness hits her “like a ton of bricks.”

When Morgan Taylor sees a car crash on the news, he is reminded of his twin with a “wave of anxiety.”

All three spoke recently in court at the sentencing of Shaeden Robinson, who was driving drunk last year when he crashed into Brooke Taylor’s car at North Middleton Road and Smith Avenue in Nampa. She died at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise.

“Brooke was 26 years old at the time of her death, and she had the rest of her life, the best of her life, ahead of her,” Patty Taylor said in court, where Robinson was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after three, court records showed.

He also will be credited for time served — 257 days behind bars.

“I think based on what we’ve learned, that will be as close as we are going to get to justice,” Jay Taylor told the Idaho Statesman in a phone interview.

Robinson, now 25, was at a bonfire eight months ago and drove “pissed off,” Patrick Miller, a deputy prosecuting attorney in Canyon County, said at the sentencing. Robinson barely made it a third of a mile when he crashed his Dodge Ram truck into the passenger side of Brooke’s Subaru Forester, according to a court affidavit.

He told police that he had five beers that night before getting behind the wheel. Court documents disclosed that police also found 12.7 grams of mushrooms — enough for a dozen doses — two THC vapes and marijuana paraphernalia in Robinson’s truck.

Robinson was given a breath test about an hour and a half after the crash, court documents showed, and his blood alcohol content was 0.152; he was tested again three minutes later, and it was 0.163, more than double the legal limit of .08.

“Brooke was a mile away from home. Brooke was driving slowly through the intersection. She had no idea what was speeding at her from the right side,” her mom said in court.

Man who caused crash was ‘crying on his knees’

When police arrived at the crash, Brooke was found unconscious and bleeding from her head, according to court documents. Nampa Police Cpl. Shea Phillips said she found Robinson “crying on his knees.”

Prior to the sentencing, Robinson wrote a letter to the Taylor family that was included in court documents. In that letter, he addressed Brooke as Taylor and said: “I will have this sickness the rest of my life. I’m sorry more than my words can describe, and no amount of words or time will help me forget you.”

On June 11, Robinson pleaded guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter. Two misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance were dropped in a plea deal.

“I sit in my bed at night and I ask God, ‘Why?’” Robinson said at his sentencing hearing.

Patty Taylor said that she hopes the story of Robinson’s crime prevents “this senseless death from happening to somebody else.” She also spoke in court about how she and Jay have a life expectancy of another 17 years or so, and Morgan has a life expectancy of another 50.

“Thus, we’re getting punished for that length of time,” the victim’s mom said.

“Brooke’s life was cut short at 26.5 years of life. That’s a punishment of about 50-plus years.

“We, her family and friends, are all being sentenced to a life without Brooke. ... Brooke’s killer will have a much lesser sentence. ... He will get his life back. Brooke does not get her life back. He will get a second chance. Brooke does not get a second chance.”

The intersection where the fatal crash occurred is now one of interest for camera installation, according to Carmen Boeger, a Nampa Police Department spokesperson. The department is testing a system that will use something other than fiber internet to connect and record with traffic cameras.

Chris Krajsa, the manager of Nampa’s Real-Time Crime Center division, said the cameras should be installed within the next couple of weeks.

“That’s one good thing that came out of all of this. It’s a safer intersection,” Patty Taylor told the Statesman.

This story was originally published June 26, 2025 at 4:00 AM.