A 27-year-old Denver man was found guilty of five counts of vehicular homicide on Wednesday in a 2022 Weld County crash that killed a Wyoming family of five.
Jesus Puebla was found guilty of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, careless driving, reckless driving and two commercial vehicle traffic violations by a Weld County jury on Wednesday, according to court records.
Puebla was driving a 1999 Kenworth T800 box truck on the afternoon of June 13, 2022, when he crashed into a 2015 Ford Edge driven by 20-year-old Aaron Godinez.
Godinez and four passengers were killed in the crash – his parents, Emiliano and Christina Godines, who were 51 and 47; Halie Everts, 20; and their 3-month-old daughter, Tessleigh Godinez.
The family was returning home to Gillette, Wyoming.
The crash occurred on northbound Interstate 25 near Colo. 66, and Puebla collided with two other vehicles in the crash, according to previous reporting. A Greeley man driving one of the other vehicles had minor injuries.
Puebla was driving 76 mph when he rear-ended the Ford Edge, which was going about 6 mph because of backed-up traffic, according to police.
Puebla’s attorney, James Colgan, said in a statement he is exploring appeal options and highlighted the need for the owners and mechanics who “reconfigured the truck” Puebla was driving to be held accountable.
“They were reckless and cared far less about public safety than my client,” Colgan wrote.
A federal lawsuit filed by a Wisconsin insurance company alleges the truck was not insured at the time of the crash and Colorado State Patrol troopers found “several violations” related to the truck’s brakes.
Puebla’s sentencing is set for June 21.
Updated 2:45 p.m., March 28, 2024: This story has been updated to add a statement from Jesus Puebla’s attorney and correct the last names of Aaron Godinez and Tessleigh Godinez, which were misspelled because of incorrect information provided by a source.
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.
