A Boulder District judge on Thursday ruled that prosecutors may continue their pursuit of a first-degree murder charge against a woman accused of driving drunk and causing a June wreck that left a 33-year-old Boulder man dead and his 2-year-old daughter disabled.
Lisa Norton, 32, quietly listened to prosecutors argue that her actions on June 26 constituted not just vehicular homicide, the most common charge against a driver in a fatal wreck, but first-degree murder with extreme indifference. Prosecutor Sean Finn said Norton, who was two days into probation on another alcohol-related driving conviction, had no regard for anyone’s life on June 26 and had spent the day drinking at bars despite a court order that she not use alcohol.
“She didn’t care who she killed and she said as much,” Finn said.
According to reports, Gabriel Nielsen was driving his Nissan coupe west on Nelson Road at about 6:30 p.m. June 26 when Norton lost control of her eastbound Ford pickup and struck the Nissan. Police report that Norton was fleeing from another collision at the time. Nielsen died at the scene, and his sister Cherish Francis, 35, and 2-year-old daughter, Avery, suffered serious injuries. Norton fled the scene, jumped into Clover Basin Reservoir and tried to swim away to escape police, according to police reports. Boaters in the reservoir fished her out of the water and turned her over to police.
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