DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — Fifty years behind bars was the sentence a judge handed down to a Thornton man who killed two people in a drugged driving crash in Douglas County in 2018.
Skylar Pagano, 28, was sentenced Thursday in Douglas County court. A jury convicted him in December of 17 counts, including vehicular homicide DUI in the deaths of Texas residents Festus Poyner and Julee Davis, both of whom were 32 years old.
On May 20, 2018, Pagano was high on methamphetamine and driving a stolen Ford F150 southbound on Colorado 83 with a female passenger. At a speed of 80 mph, he moved to pass in a no-passing zone on a curve and hit a Toyota RAV4 driven by Poyner head-on.
The driver compartment of the RAV4 was crushed. Poyner and passenger Davis were declared dead at the scene. Their 2-year-old son was in a car seat in the back. He survived with serious, life-threatening injuries, according to press release Tuesday from Office of the District Attorney, 18th Judicial District.
“You drove a stolen vehicle at a high rate of speed, passing vehicles on a curve, under the influence of substances – all of those things individually could lead to tragedy. Taken together, this outcome was almost inevitable,” Judge Jeffrey Holmes told Pagano. “Your criminal history is extensive, and there is no indication of any remorse. You have already been exposed to almost every intervention the system has to offer you.”
Family members of the victims were present during sentencing and pressed the judge for a lengthy sentence.
“There were 99 fractures in (their son’s) body – he had a full body cast, a wheelchair,” Davis’ older sister told the judge. “I don’t want (Pagano) to be able to hurt another person ever again.”
The 2-year-old injured in the crash made a full recovery and does not remember the crash, the release read.
