DENVER -- The elderly woman who struck two teenage boys in a bike lane, killing Cole Sukle, 14, was legally drunk according to a coroner’s report.
Police said Patricia Livingston, 81, made a wide turn from Colorado Boulevard onto westbound Yale Avenue, and failed to stay in her lane on July 13.
As she rounded a nearby curve near South Madison Street, she crossed into the bike lane, struck the two teenagers and continued driving for five blocks before plowing through a creek in McWilliams Park, officers said.
Sukle was critically injured and died the next day. The other victim, Jack Mahoney, 13, suffered minor injuries. A third teen, Asher Goerdt, 14, was not hit.
Livingston died 10 days after the crash.
The coroner’s report shows Livingston had a blood alcohol content level of .135. In Colorado, the legal limit is .08.
"Looking at recent data, in 2014, only six percent of drunk driving fatalities were caused by drivers 75 or older," said Fran Lanzer of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Lanzer said most deadly DUI cases involve drivers between 21-34 year old.
"Typically younger people are more likely to take risks. And so that's a demographic we specifically target working with CDOT."
Livingston's family has released the following statement after learning the results of the coroner's report:
"We were not aware she was drinking and driving. To be clear, these facts do not change the fact that a little soul was lost that day. We continue to grieve for Cole and his family."
Livingston and her late husband, Johnston R. Livingston, founded two companies. She was President and CEO of Construction Technology, Inc. until she closed it in June of 2014, according to her trustee bio on the University of Denver website.
She served as a trustee at Colorado Women's College until it was merged into the University of Denver in 1982, at which time she was elected to the DU Board of Trustees. She was also an Honorary Life Trustee.
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