Woman Gets Long Sentence In 2018 Killing Of Seattle Bicyclist

SEATTLE, WA - The sun was shining a little too brightly for the sad gathering that took place in a small courtroom on the 8th floor of the King County Courthouse on Friday morning.

Susan Hayden was there, surrounded by friends and family, to watch a judge sentence the woman who killed her husband. Chrystal Barber, the killer, was there to accept her punishment.

The story of how those two women got to that courtroom is an awful one. It's also one shows the lack of options courts have for dealing with crimes that involve violence and addiction. Barber, an alcoholic, is going to jail, but it's unclear if that's enough to prevent her - and other similar offenders - from committing crimes in the future.

Barber was driving an old red pickup truck along Rainier Avenue near Lakeridge Drive on a sunny Saturday afternoon last July when she veered into the unprotected bike lane and hit Alex Hayden, 50, from behind. Hayden flew off his bike, landing on a nearby parked car. Barber kept driving, dragging Hayden’s bike under her truck, never stopping to help.

Urged by her family, Barber turned herself in on July 15. Hayden died on July 17. Barber pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and other charges on Dec 10.

When Barber turned herself in, police noted that she smelled like alcohol. But prosecutors were never able to prove that she was drunk when she hit Hayden. Barber has said she wasn’t, but that’s tough for some to believe.

“It’s the elephant in the room,” King County Superior Court Judge Laura Inveen said on Friday of Barber’s sobriety at the time of the collision.

Barber has five DUI convictions dating back to 1994, including a felony DUI from 2011. She has four convictions for driving without a license or suspended license, plus one conviction for driving without an ignition interlock device. She wasn’t supposed to be driving last July, but her aunt let her borrow that red pickup truck.

In a twisted coincidence, Hayden, a father of three, wasn’t the only bicyclist killed in 2018 along Rainier Avenue by a repeat DUI offender.

On Dec. 7 in Renton, just 1-½ miles south of where Hayden was hit, an intoxicated driver hit Taylor Goehring, 23, as she biked in the center turning lane. Vern A. Henderson had six DUI convictions and was under some of the strictest supervision the court can impose outside of jail. He was ordered to use an ignition interlock device and was wearing a SCRAMx ankle bracelet that monitors blood-alcohol content. Henderson was high on drugs when he hit Goehring, according to court records, so the bracelet didn’t do anything.

Goehring’s family took her off life support eight days after she was hit.

Hayden and Goehring were victims of people who should not have been driving. They were also perhaps victims of a system that doesn’t provide the intense lifelong medical care addicts need. Forced sobriety in prison and court-ordered rehab are temporary fixes. Alcohol use disorder is a chronic condition exacerbated by underlying mental health problems like depression and anxiety - plus things outside the court's control, like having a job or a loving relationship.

Anita Louise Whitfield, a cousin, appeared on Barber’s behalf. She highlighted good work that Barber has done over the years as a volunteer. But she also described Barber as a “broken and sad woman” who has endured domestic abuse. Whitfield also said that Barber was suicidal in the days after she hit Hayden.

“This is a disease, not a character flaw,” Whitfield said. “It is treatment that leads to the safety of our shared community.”

Prosecuting Attorney Amy Freedheim agreed that Barber’s alcoholism is a disease that needs to be treated, but she asked the judge not to grant Barber a Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative (DOSA). Freedheim said that leaving a human "broken and bleeding" along the road after a hit-and-run, especially one involving a pedestrian or bicyclist, is morally reprehensible. Barber wasn't eligible for DOSA because it's not for alcoholics who drive impaired.

“I don’t know how we protect the community, but at some point we have to get people off the street,” Freedheim said.

Gary Ernsdorff, Hayden’s friend, asked the court to send Barber away for the maximum amount of time, 107 months. Ernsdorff is a King County prosecuting attorney, but was not involved in the case. He described how Barber had shown up in court before with “a story and a promise” only to break that promise later.

“A severe punishment is warranted,” he said.

Barber wasn’t eligible for any court-ordered treatment program, anyway. She never admitted to being drunk at the time of the collision, and so wasn’t facing any alcohol-related crimes.

When it was Susan Hayden’s turn to address Inveen, she talked about the day her husband went out on his last bike ride. He finished up some household chores and then announced he was going to enjoy the rest of that sunny day doing something he loved.

Reflecting on the possibility that Barber could spend almost a decade in a jail, she told Inveen that she would gladly wait that long if it meant Alex would come back.

"I would like to keep my community safe," she said. "Maybe she can’t get better."

Some in the courtroom cried as Susan Hayden spoke. Barber, a tiny woman with cornrows wearing red prison scrubs, sobbed. Her lawyer put his arm around her.

The judge sentenced Barber to 7-½ years, but no one can predict what will happen after that.