ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) [—] An Anchorage teenager who drove through a red light and caused a fatal crash has been sentenced to a year in jail and six months of community service.
Murphy Madison Gross was 16 when his sport utility vehicle T-boned a smaller vehicle carrying four people, including Catherine Cope, 27, a mother of two. Cope died of injuries from the Feb. 6, 2013, crash.
Gross, now 17, pleaded guilty in July to criminally negligent homicide and three misdemeanor assault charges as part of a plea agreement, the Alaska Dispatch News reported.
After Gross was indicted, prosecutors said the teenager took his father’s new sport utility vehicle without permission, smoked marijuana with friends and drove without a license.
A blood sample taken from Gross an hour after the accident tested positive for marijuana, but a judge ruled the test was conducted without probable cause and the evidence was suppressed.
Prosecutors also said Gross was distracted by a text message. Investigators said he sent or received 14 texts and four phone calls in the half hour before the crash. The final text was received at 2:36 a.m., about a minute before the collision at busy A Street and Northern Lights Boulevard.
Gross’ attorney denied he was texting, and assistant district attorney Daniel Shorey said during sentencing Thursday that it could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
Cope was originally from Bethel. She had driven to pick up her husband, Ryan Cope, from his job at Guido’s Pizza. With Ryan Cope behind the wheel, they were giving a ride home to two co-workers.
Defense attorney John Murtagh said the case was not about speeding or running a red light. Convenience-store surveillance video showed Gross “absolutely hit the brakes” before entering the roadway or the crosswalk, Murtagh said.
Alaska law allows drivers to send and receive text messages if their vehicles are stopped, Murtagh said.
Ryan Cope said he was frustrated by the plea deal. He said his daughters have been sentenced to a life without their mother.
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