Driver sent to prison for fatal wreck

A 22-year-old Redmond man who caused the death of a passenger in a car he was driving received more than five years in prison Friday.

Tyler Brown was sentenced to 61 months in prison, plus eight months for eluding a police officer.

Brown was eastbound on Redmond Way in Redmond at 1:20 a.m. July 30 when a State Patrol trooper noticed he was speeding, according to court documents.

The trooper tried to pull him over, but Brown sped through a red light and, a short while later, crashed into a guardrail in the 15100 block of Redmond Way. The impact killed his passenger, Emily Smith, 22, and seriously injured Brown, who spent 29 days in the hospital.

Brown's blood-alcohol content was 0.24 percent, three times the legal limit, according to toxicology tests.

Brown pleaded guilty to charges of vehicular homicide and eluding a police officer, and his attorney and the King County prosecutor's office agreed on a recommendation calling for imprisonment at the top end of state-sentencing guidelines.

That range allows for 46 to 61 months in prison, partly because of Brown's criminal history, which included rendering assistance during a robbery. The sentences will be served concurrently.

Smith and Brown had been drinking the before the crash, and Smith told a friend she was too intoxicated to drive and asked Brown to drive her car, according to court filings.

Brown told King County Superior Court Judge Paris Kallas that he had no memory of the crash because of his injuries but has taken steps to deal with his alcohol use, including attending classes and undergoing treatment.

"I've changed completely," he said. "I know I have to go to prison."

Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259 or pwhitely@seattletimes.com.