Woman in fatal hit-and-run near homeless shelter sentenced to prison

Woman in fatal hit-and-run near homeless shelter sentenced to prison

(Francisco Kjolseth)


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SALT LAKE CITY — A woman who admitted fleeing the scene after she crashed a car into a group of people near the Salt Lake homeless shelter was sentenced Friday to prison.

Shutney Lee Kyzer, 38, was sentenced to serve up to five years in prison for failure to remain at the scene of an accident involving a death, a third-degree felony. She will also serve a year concurrently for negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor, according to court records.

On July 4, 2017, Kyzer drove onto the sidewalk near 425 W. 200 South and hit six pedestrians. Kendra Griffis, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene. Five others suffered injuries ranging from broken femurs to fractured ribs, as well as hip and leg injuries.

Kyzer then fled the scene. Surveillance footage presented during a preliminary hearing in January showed the tan Mazda that Kyzer was driving leaving the road and drifting up onto the sidewalk. Another video showed Kyzer, breathless, as she hurried away from the scene across a nearby TRAX platform.

A police detective tracked Kyzer down through a cellphone, which she used to call her boss to explain she wouldn't be coming to work. Kyzer told the detective she had taken a friend's car without permission and gone to the area near the Road Home shelter to purchase Spice.

After purchasing the drug, Kyzer told the detective she was smoking it while she drove and was making a right turn when she blacked out. She also said she had taken seven Xanax the night before.

Kyzer pleaded guilty to the charges in February. In exchange for her plea, additional charges were dismissed, including unauthorized control of a vehicle for an extended time, a third-degree felony, and driving on the sidewalk, an infraction.

Kyzer was on parole at the time of the crash. In 2009, she had been sentenced to one to 15 years in prison for burglary and kidnapping, according to court records. In 2014, she was convicted of possessing methamphetamine and Spice. In 2016, Kyzer was convicted of assault for punching a fellow inmate.

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