EVERETT — John Alves persuaded a judge Thursday to let him be home with his family on Feb. 23 — the day his son would have turned 9.
Josiah Alves died in the front seat of his father’s BMW in 2012. John Alves was racing another car on Evergreen Way when he lost control and slammed into an oncoming minivan. Alves was high on marijuana at the time of the crash. Josiah, 7, suffered a fatal head injury.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge George Appel on Thursday sentenced John Alves to 15 months in prison, a low-end sentence.
“I know perfectly well there is no sentence I can give you that likely will come close to the sentence you have given yourself,” Appel said. “Most parents would rather be dead than watch their own child be killed.”
Alves pleaded guilty in November to vehicular homicide.
He faced up to 20 months in prison under the state sentencing guidelines established by the Legislature. Vehicular homicide is not considered a violent offense.
Alves was charged under the theory that he disregarded the safety of others. Detectives reconstructed the scene and estimated that Alves and Jacob Friesen were driving at least 50 mph when their cars collided. Friesen eventually pleaded guilty to reckless driving and served 30 days in the county jail.
Prosecutors did not allege that Alves was driving under the influence of drugs. The Everett man would have faced up to 8 1/2 years in prison if he had been convicted of driving under the influence at the time of the deadly crash.
State toxicologists reported that Alves tested at 10 nanograms of active THC per milliliter of blood — twice the legal limit. The crash happened before voters legalized marijuana and a driving limit was established. Toxicologists would not have been able to testify with any certainty that Alves was impaired, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Tobin Darrow said. It would have come down to the police officers’ observations of Alves that day.
“There wasn’t a lot to go on with impairment,” Darrow said.
That left Darrow with witnesses who reported that Alves was racing the other car. There were, however, conflicting accounts about what each driver was doing, he said.
“The defendant has to live with consequences for the rest of his life. He killed his own child,” Darrow said. “That factored into my recommendation.”
Alves’ prior felony drug conviction didn’t increase the standard range because he had gone more than five years without any new criminal convictions.
Alves, 32, asked the judge for leniency Thursday. He said his wife and four children need him at home.
“My kids are my life,” he said.
The pain never leaves him but he is trying to move forward for the sake of his family, he said.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt,” Alves said.
He asked the judge to allow him to remain free until after Josiah’s birthday. The day is particularly difficult for his wife. The family was planning to visit the boy’s grave.
“I want to make sure I’m there, mainly for my wife and kids to assure them everything is going to be OK,” Alves said.
Darrow had asked that Alves be taken into custody and begin serving his prison sentence immediately.
The judge was persuaded to grant Alves request for the sake of the man’s wife, who was sitting in the front row of the courtroom. Appel said he saw the pain in her face.
“I don’t think I can ignore what a parent of a victim wants in this case,” the judge said.
Appel agreed to let Alves remain free until 4:30 p.m. Feb. 23.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley
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