JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — The former Colorado School of Mines professor who pleaded guilty to killing a Golden police officer in a drunk driving crash that also injured three others was sentenced to 13 years in the Department of Corrections Wednesday afternoon.
More than 50 people filled the courtroom for the sentencing of Stephen Geer in an emotional hearing that began Wednesday morning and lasted well into the afternoon.
Family members and colleagues of Evan Dunn, the Golden Police Officer who was killed, asked for the maximum consecutive sentence to reflect the magnitude of the loss and risk of driving under the influence, while Geer’s family asked for a shorter sentence that considered his remorse and growth.
"I’m truly, deeply and unequivocally sorry," Geer said during the sentencing. He said that he did not expect forgiveness, but that he hoped his impending incarceration could offer some sense of closure for the surviving victims.
Judge Russell Klein called the victim statements from Dunn's family among the most powerful statements he has heard.
In October 2025, Geer pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide while driving under the influence and vehicular assault while driving under the influence as part of a plea deal. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss additional charges on the condition that Geer serve a prison sentence of four to 18 years, eliminating the possibility of probation, Denver7 reported at the time.
The prosecution asked for a consecutive sentence, while defense asked for a concurrent sentence.
Geer was ultimately sentenced to nine years with a mandatory five year parole for vehicular homicide and four years with a mandatory three year parole for the vehicular assault, with the prison sentences being served consecutively and parole being served concurrently. The court also ordered restitution; the amount sought will be determined later.
Prior to the sentencing, the judge noted that Geer had no prior criminal conduct, and said that the court was "skeptical" that any length of sentence would be a deterrent to others likely to commit a similar offense.
He said the problem was not that Geer had a drinking problem and elected to drink that day, but that he chose to drive after drinking. He called drunk driving accidents "senseless and preventable" and said that this was "a foreseeable outcome."
'Scars that will never heal'
The case began in November 2024, when Golden Police Officers Evan Dunn and Bethany Peterson, formerly Bethany Grusing, responded to a crash involving two cars along Highway 58. At the time, the roads were slick with light snow, according to the arrest affidavit.
Geer, who was driving in the eastbound left lane toward the collision, then crashed into the cars, pinning Dunn and Peterson beneath one of the vehicles.
Dunn was killed. Peterson and two civilians were seriously injured.
According to the arrest affidavit, Geer's eyes looked watery and his breath smelled of alcohol after the crash. Police asked him to complete a roadside test to ensure he could drive safely, which he initially agreed to but ultimately refused. Police later obtained a blood search warrant and completed a blood draw on Geer, which found his blood alcohol content was over twice the legal limit more than three hours after the crash.
Dunn was 33 years old and is survived by his wife, their dog, his parents and his two siblings. In Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, family members and colleagues described Dunn as kind, brave, generous, quiet, observant and dedicated to service.
“I just don’t have words that can fully and fairly capture how deep that loss is. It’s real, it’s forever, it hurts. It’s the greatest I’ve known,” Tyler Dunn, Evan Dunn’s brother said at the sentencing. “The collective pain caused by this tragedy is immeasurable."
“I lost a friend, I lost a confidant, I lost a brother,” he said. “I lost my only brother.”
He said his six-year-old still cries because “he misses his Uncle Evan.”
Cindy Dunn, Evan Dunn’s mother, also spoke of the grief and loss her family has experienced.
"Due to the actions taken by Stephen Geer, I will never again in this life experience Evan’s sweetness,” she said. “A kiss quietly placed on the top of my head at unexpected moments. Silent side hugs given for no reason at all. Or his smirky smile and eyes full of merriment and mischief, that means he’s enjoying his own private joke and isn’t sharing it with anyone.”
Holidays, she said, will never be complete.
“Due to the actions taken by Stephen Geer, I will never again in this life experience a family gathering of all my children,” she said. “No more Thanksgiving dinners, loving the twinkle in Evan’s eye, when he first sees my apple cobbler — his favorite. No more Christmases with him wearing matching PJ’s with the rest of us.”
She said that although she forgives Geer, “forgiveness is not the same as a lack of consequences for wrong actions.”
“Sentences send a message,” she said. “I respectfully request that the court impose consecutive sentences that send a strong message that driving under the influence is not worth the risk.”
Bill Dunn, Evan Dunn’s father, also asked the court for consecutive sentences “that reflect the magnitude and permanence” of the loss.
Aubrey Rowden, Dunn’s older sister, said he had “goodness left to give, and that goodness was stolen.”
She said that no sentence handed down would be able to restore what was taken, but that accountability and consequences matter. The value of her brother’s life, she said, must be reflected in the court’s decision. She asked for a consecutive, maximum sentence.
“This is not about vengeance, it is about justice,” she said.
Dunn's widow also spoke in court, but has requested privacy. Denver7 is not including her statement in order to honor her wishes.
Golden Police Chief Joe Harvey spoke of lasting impacts on other members of the Golden Police Department and the night of the crash as filled with helplessness and fear. He described the feelings of Dunn and Grusing’s team who arrived on the scene and tried to lift the car off of Dunn with their bare hands as “fear,” “horror,” and “sheer panic.”
“When they could not lift that car, they crawled under, lying on the cold, wet, and slushy road,” he said. “Their uniforms will forever be stained in the blood of their teammates.”
"All they could do was hold Evan Dunn’s hands, telling him it would be okay, letting him know that they were there.”
When the fire department arrived, he said, it took hours to lift the car off of Dunn.
“Our brothers from the Fire Department would have to beg our officers to get out from underneath that car, as they needed to do their job,” Harvey said. “As you can imagine, these brave men and women refused. They did not want to leave Evan alone."
More than 500 first-responders from 76 agencies participated in a procession through metro Denver in Dunn’s honor ahead of his November 2024 memorial service, Denver7 reported.
"I want Stephen Geer to know that while others may find it hard to forgive, I do not judge him, I do not condemn him, but I do forgive him," Harvey said. "Stephen Geer has accepted responsibility for his actions with this plea agreement, but today is about accountability for his actions.”
Peterson (Grusing at the time) and two civilians were seriously injured. Peterson fractured a cheekbone, and the driver of one of the cars sustained a skull fracture and brain bleed, according to the affidavit. That driver’s father was thrown over the barrier and into the westbound lane, seriously lacerating his head and elbow, according to the arrest document.
Peterson’s family members who spoke described the trauma and heartbreak she has faced since the crash.
“What began as a routine call for service… left scars that will never heal,” her husband Tanner Peterson told the court.
He said the crash left her with a fear of driving and that she didn’t return to work for more than two months, in a stark contrast to her usual resilience and dedication.
“Losing someone you depend on, in the line of duty, is devastating,” Delaney McCleish, Peterson's cousin, said in a statement read to the court by a representative. “Having to process that loss while broken, traumatized, and healing, is something no one should ever have to endure.”
Annie Pearse, the woman who fractured her skull, was 23 at the time of the crash and described the trauma she has experienced in the wake of the injury in a victim statement an advocate read on her behalf.
“In an instant, that forward momentum stopped,” she said in the statement. “My life was put on hold — not by choice, but by another person’s decisions.”
She said she has a traumatic brain injury and PTSD that causes flashbacks, makes her feel unsafe and sometimes makes her feel like the crash is happening again.
“I survived the crash, but survival does not mean recovery,” she said in the statement.
'Overcome with grief, shame and remorse'
Lynn Noesner, Geer’s wife, apologized to the survivors in the room and said she saw their pain and wished she could take it away.
When Geer returned home, she said the first thing he said was that “he wished he had been the one who died.”
“His remorse was so great, he wished he was the one in the grave,” she said.
She said he has struggled with addiction and lifelong depression and has tried different interventions with varying levels of success. She said he went to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting the day after the accident and every 90 days following the accident. He now attends them weekly, she said, and has confronted the underlying issues that led him here.
She asked the court for the lowest possible sentence in recognition of his growth and consideration of their daughter’s wellbeing.
“My deepest and most sincere wish for all families involved is that we can all heal," she said.
Other close family friends of Geer who spoke at the sentencing said he was remorseful and that they did not believe a long prison sentence was the answer.
“This terrible decision under terrible circumstances does not reflect the Steve that I know him to be," one of them said.
Geer was diagnosed with severe alcohol use disorder, depression and anxiety by Dr. Jennifer Rosenthal, who was asked to complete a forensic psychiatric evaluation and spoke at Wednesday’s hearing. She described him as deeply remorseful and said that his diagnoses “substantially impaired his judgement and decision-making” on the day of the crash.”
Geer’s drinking began that morning, according to the prosecution’s statements made at the hearing. Jefferson County Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Domingues said Geer purchased alcohol five times throughout the day, driving between his workplace and liquor stores several times, and a search of the vehicle revealed IPA cans and shooters of vodka.
Geer was still accelerating four seconds prior to the crash, and was driving at 68 mph, which Domingues said was well above the speed limit. Both the prosecution and defense agreed that although Geer attempted to brake, his alcohol impairment compromised his ability to do so.
A search of his computer also revealed searches like “do prosecutors look at location history or purchase history?” Multiple attempts were made to remotely factory reset Geer’s phone, eventually successfully, though it’s still not clear who made those attempts, Domingues said.
Geer’s defense attorney, Megan Downing, said that Geer contends with the reality of what happened every day and that what she witnessed from him was “absolute collapse of an individual overcome with grief, shame and remorse."
His punishment, she said, goes beyond the sentence.
“He will wish for the rest of his life that he did not get behind the wheel that day," she said.
When Geer addressed the court, he said that the tragedy would impact how he lives for the rest of his life.
“I wish there was more I could do, more I could say, more I could offer the victims than just this apology," he said, adding that the remorse and accountability would not end today.
He said he vows to remain sober and share the lessons he’s learned with others who are in the cycle of addiction.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
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