- Meagan Dakota Grunwald, convicted in Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Cory Wride's 2014 death, has been granted parole.
- Grunwald's release on April 28 depends on compliance with her treatment plan.
- Wride's widow, Nannette Wride-Zeeman, forgives Grunwald and supports her release.
SALT LAKE CITY — The woman convicted for her role in the 2014 shooting death of Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Cory Wride has been granted parole.
The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole says as long as Meagan Dakota Grunwald remains compliant with her current treatment plan and doesn't have any major disciplinary violations, she will be released on April 28.
The decision follows an extraordinary parole hearing in December during which Nannette Wride-Zeeman, Wride's widow, spoke in support of Grunwald, whom she now calls her "friend" and hopes to stay in contact with once she is released from prison. Wride-Zeeman told KSL.com she has "100% forgiven" Grunwald, and is at peace knowing she'll never have to attend another parole hearing.
On Jan. 30, 2014, Wride had stopped to check on a vehicle pulled off to the side of the road in Eagle Mountain. Grunwald, then 17, was driving and her boyfriend, 27-year-old Jose Angel Garcia-Juragui, was also in the vehicle.
As the sergeant sat in his patrol car checking the couple's information on his laptop, Garcia shot and killed Wride without warning. That shooting of Wride set off a series of events that day that included Utah County sheriff's deputy Greg Sherwood also being shot and critically wounded, Grunwald and Garcia carjacking another vehicle and a police chase with Grunwald driving that culminated with a shootout with police outside of Nephi during which Garcia was killed.
Although she did not fire a shot, Grunwald was originally determined to be equally responsible for Garcia's crimes and was convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.
But in 2021, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that the jury in Grunwald's trial was not given proper instructions and threw out her murder conviction. Rather than a new trial, however, Grunwald accepted a plea deal, admitting to lesser charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault on a peace officer, second-degree felonies. She was resentenced to consecutive terms of one to 15 years in prison. At the time, prosecutors expected the new sentence would result in about five more years of prison time.
The day before Grunwald's last parole hearing, Wride-Zeeman met with Grunwald, now 29, at the prison face-to-face for the first time.
"I saw this little girl come out from the holding area, terrified to meet me, like terrified, shaking and crying. She told me how terrified she was to meet me. And I was like, 'You don't have to be afraid of me.' I don't have any hate toward you. I don't have anything. But I want understanding, and I think that's where my grief process has brought me — I wanted to understand her," Wride-Zeeman said.
"I wanted to get to the point that I finally found peace and to where I could encourage her to 'live her happy.' Because I'm happier now than I've ever been in my life. And I want her to be able to find that, too. And so there was a lot of tears, a lot of laughter, a lot of hugs, a lot of explaining and a lot of understanding. And a lot of honesty, and that's (the) biggest (part) of our friendship. And as long as she's always honest with me, I'll always be her friend."
Following the three-hour meeting, Wride-Zeeman said she had "completely and fully" forgiven Grunwald and wants to be part of her support group when she is released.
