- Christian Cody Facer was given consecutive sentences after causing a DUI crash that killed Thy Vu Mims.
- Facer expressed remorse and vowed to live a life that honors her.
- Facer was fleeing from officers and had a blood-alcohol limit seven times the legal limit.
WEST JORDAN — Christian Cody Facer said he accepts full responsibility for his actions before he was sentenced Thursday to consecutive prison terms for causing a fatal crash while driving under the influence of alcohol.
He said his actions were reckless and irresponsible, and he often thinks about the woman who died, her family and Deanna Martin, who survived but was put through a terrifying experience. He also said he was sorry for the loss of Martin's dog, who died in the collision.
Facer expressed a commitment to never drink again and to live a life that contributes something good to the world.
"I know that no words I write can undo what happened or take away the pain," he said. "Thy Vu deserved a full life, and the fact that my actions took that away is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life."
Thy Vu Hoang Vu, also known as Thy Vu Mims, 33, was killed on Oct. 16, 2021 when her car was hit by a truck driven by Facer as he was being pursued by a North Salt Lake police officer. She is the mother of two boys, the co-founder of Mims Bakery and a community activist.
Facer's blood-alcohol content was measured at a staggering 0.354%, or seven times the legal limit in Utah. Facer's passenger told police they had been drinking that day since 6 a.m.
Dispatchers received multiple calls about a truck with two men in it driving erratically, and one caller said they were passing a bottle that was suspected to contain alcohol, according to police.
Third District Judge Chelsea Koch sentenced Facer, 43, to two terms of one to 15 years in prison for a reduced charge of murder and failure to stop at the command of police, second-degree felonies, and three terms of zero to five years in prison for two counts of driving under the influence and obstruction of justice, third-degree felonies. She ordered the sentences to run consecutive.
At Facer's preliminary hearing in 2022, Koch told him he was lucky to be alive.
Mims' husband, Tripp Mims, asked for the harshest sentence possible for Facer, saying he's already been given chances and has been at court for the same behavior, although this is the first time it resulted in a fatality. He told Facer it was 100% his fault as he is the one who made the crucial decisions that day.
He criticized the officers who responded, saying it was a man who lived in a nearby home who had to pull his wife out of the car.
"We talk about Thy a lot. We talk about her and we miss her," he said at the end of his comments.
Salt Lake County deputy district attorney Christopher Alberico said Facer made the choice to turn his car into a deadly weapon.
Facer was initially charged manslaughter, a second-degree felony, but prosecutors increased the charge to murder, a first-degree felony, claiming he acted with depraved indifference to human life. As part of a plea deal, the murder charge was reduced to a second-degree felony.
Charges were also dismissed for reckless driving, operating a vehicle without an interlock system and aggravated cruelty to an animal, class B misdemeanors, in addition to having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle, a class C misdemeanor, and five traffic violations as part of that deal.
Defense attorney Samantha Dugan said Facer has always taken accountability and been sorry for what happened.
"He thinks about this every day. … Every day he is in a prison of his own making," she said.
She argued at his preliminary hearing and afterward that he should have been charged with manslaughter instead of murder.
