Idaho man fell from pickup, died. Here’s driver’s alleged blood alcohol level
Prosecutors in Canyon County are asking to amend the felony charge against a Meridian woman accused of causing the death of a family friend for allegedly driving drunk over the weekend.
Skylar Keeth, 25, was booked into the Canyon County jail on suspicion of several felonies after one of the passengers in the bed of a pickup truck fell out while police say she was driving around a Nampa neighborhood.
Keeth had a blood alcohol content of three times the legal limit of 0.08%, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by the Idaho Statesman.
She was initially arrested on suspicion of felony aggravated driving under the influence and three counts of injury to a child, the affidavit showed.
Prosecutors now want to charge her with felony vehicular manslaughter — which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years — “on the grounds that it more accurately reflects the correct charges,” Canyon County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Virginia Bond wrote in a motion Monday.
The passenger who fell out died almost 24 hours later at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center from traumatic blunt force injuries, and was identified as Miguel Martinez, 46, of Nampa.
Keeth, Martinez and another woman were all drinking at around 10 p.m. Saturday when they decided to go for a drive around a Nampa neighborhood with their children, according to the affidavit. The two women, along with two of the kids, were up front, while Martinez was in the bed of the truck with another child.
As they were driving, the child in the back with Martinez dropped their phone in the road. Martinez tried to signal to Keeth to stop, but instead she accelerated, the affidavit said, and Martinez fell out of the truck, landing on his head.
“This needless death is the result of careless actions and driving under the influence of alcohol,” Nampa Police Cpl. Jeffrey Stark said in a statement. “There is no excuse for drunk driving. The consequences of this crash will last a lifetime for those involved, including three young kids, who were thankfully not physically harmed.”
Keeth is scheduled to appear in court next Thursday, court records showed, which is when the prosecution will request that the presiding judge amend the charge to vehicular manslaughter.
