Driver Charged In Roadside Deaths Family Of 3 Victims Agrees To Misdemeanor Count For Roberts
Cheryl Roberts’ attention strayed for a moment from the freeway to the Post Falls business she and her husband own.
When she looked back to the roadway, the full-size Dodge pickup Roberts was driving had drifted onto the shoulder. Before she could react, the truck plowed into a Jeep Cherokee stopped on the shoulder of Interstate 90 just east of where it crosses state Highway 41.
On Thursday, prosecutors charged the 35-year-old Post Falls woman with one count of vehicular manslaughter, a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of one year in jail, in an agreement reached with Roberts’ attorney. In return, Roberts will plead guilty, attorney Mark Jackson said.
The Nov. 15 collision killed Teresa Presnell and her two daughters, 3-year-old Kendall and 9-day-old Chaselynn. Her husband, who was outside the Jeep inspecting a tire when the collision occurred, was not injured.
A complaint filed by prosecutors accuses Roberts of driving inattentively.
“We’ve all glanced away momentarily at something (while) driving along,” Jackson said. “This instance just ended up tragic for the victims, their families and for her.”
Prosecutor Bill Douglas said results of a blood test Roberts took the night of the wreck determined her blood-alcohol content to be .02 percent - well below Idaho’s legal limit of .08 percent. Idaho State Police officers who investigated the crash forwarded their report to Douglas in early December, but the prosecutor said he decided to wait until after the holidays to file charges.
That Roberts was not drunk, had no criminal record and was not driving recklessly weighed heavily in Douglas’ decision to only file a single misdemeanor charge, he said.
“We feel the evidence would prove that and nothing more,” Douglas said.
Teresa Presnell’s husband, Rory, and her parents supported the decision not to file separate charges against Roberts for each victim, Douglas said.
“I feel so badly for the Presnell family and the Gore family,” Douglas said. “They have suffered an unspeakable tragedy and loss.”
Rory’s father, Willis Presnell, who has acted as a family spokesman, declined to comment Thursday on the charge.
A sentencing date for Roberts has not been set.
Jackson said Roberts, whose husband, Kent, was riding with her, looked over at the parking lot outside their business, Casey’s Pub and the Falls Brewing Co., only “momentarily.”
Neither Roberts nor her husband was seriously injured, but the accident has left her devastated, Jackson said.
“The grief she has for the families involved is unmeasurable, and it’s something she’s going to have to live with every day for the rest of her life,” Jackson said.