Ogden woman sentenced to 2 years of jail in friend's death from 2025 crash

OGDEN — An Ogden woman has been sentenced to two years in jail stemming from a March 29 car crash last year that killed an occupant of the car she was driving.

Alyssa Palomo, 21, pleaded guilty in November to automobile homicide, a second-degree felony, and negligently operating a vehicle resulting in an injury, a class A misdemeanor, stemming from the incident. Last week, 2nd District Judge Jason Nelson sentenced her to five to 15 years in prison and four years of probation, but suspended the prison sentence in lieu of a year of jail on each count, to be served consecutively, with credit for time served.

Palomo, who had been consuming alcohol, was driving a car in the 3000 block of Harrison Boulevard in Ogden shortly after midnight on March 29 last year when she crossed from the northbound lanes of traffic to the southbound lanes, colliding head on with a southbound vehicle, according to the plea deal she reached with prosecutors. A passenger in the back seat of Palomo's auto, TyLar Londyn Palmer, 21, died.

In a blood draw after the incident, Palomo had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.21, more than four times the legal limit in Utah, according to her plea deal. She also had tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, in her system, the active ingredient in marijuana.

On leaving a party prior to the crash, Palomo rebuffed suggestions she not drive by a member of her group who didn't drink and had been the designated driver. The designated driver opened a door of the car the group was traveling in "but Palomo slammed it closed, locked it and drove away, leaving the designated driver behind," according to the plea deal.

Palomo had been traveling about 70 mph when the crash occurred, according to a data recorder in her auto. The driver of the car Palomo crashed into suffered neck and back pain, a jammed finger and burns from airbags.

Correction: The photo accompanying the story was updated to correct the last name of the driver of the car in the incident. Her name is Alyssa Palomo not Alyssa Palmer.

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