Sheldon, Iowa — A Sheldon man who was involved in a fatal ATV wreck in 2016 has been sentenced to probation and restitution in the case.
According to court documents, 27-year-old Garrett Crowl was originally charged with two counts of homicide by vehicle. The first count is vehicular homicide related to alleged operating while intoxicated, and according to Iowa Code, is a class B felony. The other count is vehicular homicide related to alleged reckless driving, which the code says is a class C felony.
Had he been convicted of a class B felony, Iowa code says he would have been sentenced to a mandatory 25-year prison term. Had he been convicted of a class C felony, he would have faced a penalty of ten years in prison and a fine of between a thousand and ten thousand dollars. But according to O’Brien County Attorney Micah Schreurs, these were alternate charges and since there was only one death, Crowl couldn’t have been convicted of both crimes.
The O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office reports that about 6:50 PM on Saturday evening, July 30, 2016, they received a 911 call of a report of a 4-wheeler accident at the farm located at 3066 McKinley Avenue.
At the time, witnesses reported seeing the ATV traveling at a fairly high rate of speed when it entered a curve in the road, and Crowl lost control on the gravel and slid sideways. It appeared the 4-wheeler then rolled sideways and struck a tree, according to witnesses.
Crowl and his passenger on the ATV, 25-year-old Shaleah Donavon of Sheldon, both sustained serious injuries and were both taken to Sanford Sheldon Hospital. Donavon died at the hospital and Crowl was taken to a Sioux Falls hospital by helicopter.
Court records indicate that Crowl admitted to law enforcement that he had smoked marijuana before the crash. The records say a test of his urine indicated the presence of THC, the principal psychoactive constituent of marijuana.
On Friday, County Attorney Schreurs filed a motion to amend the “vehicular homicide related to operating while intoxicated” charge to “involuntary manslaughter” and Crowl pleaded guilty to that charge as part of a plea agreement. Again, Schreurs says that since there was only one death, the vehicular homicide related to reckless driving count had to be dismissed once there was a guilty plea to the amended first count.
Crowl was sentenced to three years of probation, a suspended $750 fine, and deferred judgment. Schreurs says Crowl must also pay $150,000 in restitution to the victim’s family, minus $25,000, which he was sentenced to pay in a related civil case.
