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SALT LAKE CITY — A Cottonwood Heights man will spend at least 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to several charges related to a wrong-way crash that killed a woman and injured two others.
On April 19, 2021, Justin Wayne Robertson entered I-215 at 6200 South going the wrong way shortly after using methamphetamine. At the interchange from I-215 to southbound I-15 in Murray — after already driving the wrong way for approximately six miles — he hit a Ford Taurus head-on, according to charging documents.
The collision caused the death of Gwendolyn Doner and injured her boyfriend and a person in a second car that collided with Robertson after he drove past the site of the first collision.
Robertson, 37, pleaded guilty in August to murder, negligently operating a vehicle and causing injury or death, and failure to stop at the command of police, second-degree felonies; failure to remain at the scene of a crash involving serious injuries and criminal mischief, third-degree felonies; and five misdemeanor charges.
An infraction for driving on the wrong side of the road was dismissed as part of a plea deal, which also reduced the severity of the murder charge from a first-degree felony to a second-degree felony. As part of the same plea deal, Robertson pleaded guilty in three separate cases to two counts of aggravated assault and damaging a jail, third-degree felonies.
Third District Judge Kristine Johnson imposed maximum sentences of one to 15 years in prison for the second-degree felonies, and terms of zero to five years for the third-degree felonies, plus one year of incarceration for the class A misdemeanors, 180 days for a class B misdemeanor, and 90 days for class C misdemeanors. But she ordered that all of the sentences be served consecutively.
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A woman killed by a wrong-way driver on I-15 is being remembered by friends and family as spirited young lady.But the judge agreed to a stipulation from both sides to recommend to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole that Robertson spend at least 20 years in prison.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said the judge recognized the "incredible devastation" caused by Robertson's actions.
He said the district attorney's office worked closely with Doner's family throughout the case, and they approved the plea and the recommended sentence. He said eight of Doner's family members and others involved in the crash addressed the judge at the hearing.
"It had a huge devastating impact on them … leaving them with a lot of trauma and loss," Gill said.
Gill said most of the time people who cause fatal crashes are charged with vehicular homicide. In this case, he said charging Robertson with murder, citing depraved indifference to human life, was more appropriate. He said Robertson was causing a significant risk of death and a murder charge more accurately reflected his actions.
Every time a situation like this comes, it just reminds me (that) while we talk in terms of justice, we really can only deliver a measure of imperfect justice — because true justice would be that person would be alive and with those families.
–Sim Gill, Salt Lake County District Attorney
"Every time a situation like this comes it just reminds me, while we talk in terms of justice we really can only deliver a measure of imperfect justice — because true justice would be that person would be alive and with those families," Gill said.
He said prosecutors' goal is to give some accountability and reach a sentence that will help victims live with their loss.
In his statement supporting the guilty plea, Robertson admitted to driving under the influence of methamphetamine and causing a death while knowingly engaging in behavior that could lead to the death of someone else. He also admitted he rammed into a parked police car before entering the freeway and drove over 60 mph while going the wrong way.
The statement said Robertson told officers he committed the crimes "on purpose because he wanted to start something due to being mad at his life." Prosecutors previously reported that he said he was trying to end his own life.
He agreed, as part of the plea deal, to accept any requests for restitution money for the victims that are approved by the court.
