'You will not receive forgiveness from me,' sister of DUI victim tells former Layton officer

SALT LAKE CITY — Samuel Andrew Rockwell was a police officer who had served in the military.

Because of that, the family of 23-year-old Emily Worley says he should have known the dangers of drinking and driving better than most.

Instead, on Sept. 14, 2021, Rockwell crashed while driving an estimated 116 mph on Bangerter Highway near 13400 South. Police say his car veered out of its lane, hit a concrete barrier, flipped and slid across several more lanes, then hit a signpost, a traffic light pole, a fence and a raised concrete platform before coming to rest in a field.

Worley, who was in the back seat of the car, was killed.

"She was murdered by a man who had taken an oath to protect human lives," Kaitlin Krulisky, Worley's sister, said Tuesday at Rockwell's parole hearing.

Rockwell was an off-duty Layton police officer at the time of the crash — but already on suspension and in the process of being fired. He pleaded guilty in 2023 to automobile homicide while driving under the influence, a second-degree felony, and was sentenced to one to 15 years in prison.

On Tuesday, Rockwell, now 31, went before the Board of Pardons and Parole for the first time.

Members of Worley's family, however, said at the hearing that he needs to serve more time. Richard Krulisky, Emily's father, further noted to the board that Rockwell has so far served his time in county jails rather than the Utah Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City or the state prison in Gunnison.

"Two years is not enough — and especially since he's only been to jail. He hasn't been to prison, and that's where I think he should be," Richard Krulisky said.

What seemed to anger the Krulisky family the most was when Rockwell's law enforcement and military service was brought up at sentencing in an apparent attempt to gain leniency.

"He sat there and made a mockery of (the legal system)," Richard Krulisky said.

Worley's father told the board on Tuesday that he has five years of military service himself and currently goes to the Veterans Affairs hospital in Salt Lake City for treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. If Rockwell had taken responsibility for his actions from the beginning, Richard Krulisky said he might have had more sympathy.

"He blamed everything on everyone else and never ever, not even to this day, (took) responsibility for his actions," he said. "I have never seen someone so careless, even during my military time."

"I lived by the rules, and he knew the rules," Richard Krulisky continued. "He took a life like it was nothing, and sat there and blamed his friend to take the fall."

Following the crash, investigators say Rockwell initially pointed his finger at a friend who was also in the car and told police that he was driving. The friend was arrested and taken to jail before Rockwell later turned himself in and admitted he was the driver.

"To be honest, I just wanted to get out of the situation," Rockwell said Tuesday. "I didn't want to take responsibility for it at the time."

But that action only angered Emily's sister, who said Rockwell's "only concern was for him and his career."

"The only thought he has ever had was for himself," Kaitlin Krulisky said.

Kaitlin Krulisky told the board about how her sister's two children, who are still both under the age of 10 and have special needs, have struggled since their mother's death. She asked the board that if Rockwell is granted parole, he be ordered to follow the rules set in Bentley's Law, which requires anyone convicted of killing someone in a drunk driving crash to pay restitution to the victim's children until they turn 18.

She also told the board before Rockwell had his turn to speak that if he apologizes, "it will fall on deaf ears. You will not receive forgiveness from me."

When asked by board chairman Blake Hills, who conducted Tuesday's hearing, if he wanted to respond to the family's comments, Rockwell declined.

Rockwell's answers to Hills' questions on Tuesday were mostly short. But by the end of the hearing, he became emotional and repeatedly stated how "sorry" he was.

"I promise you I would trade places in a heartbeat with (Worley)," he said. "I'm sorry. And I wish I could take it back, but I can't... It wasn't supposed to be like that."

In the eight months leading up to the crash, Rockwell said he had several issues with family and relationships, which caused him to drink heavily every day.

"(I) just didn't want to deal with it. So I drank, and I drank," he said. "I just couldn't get a handle on it, and I just used it for everything."

Since being incarcerated, Rockwell says his mental health "is on the improvement," particularly when it comes to dealing with depression and anxiety.

"You have to do what's right. You have to move forward from this. Going forward, I can't forget what my actions were. And I think that's a huge part of moving forward is never making the same mistake," he said.

Rockwell emphasized a couple of times to the board that all he can do is move forward at this point.

"You're reminded every single day what you've done," he said. "Every single day, you do try to put your best foot forward... I feel like I've grown up a lot in the last three years. I don't think the same.

"I think what I did was extremely stupid and I wish I could take it back. But I can't."

The full five-member board will now vote on whether to grant parole.

Related topics