A 50-year-old father was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for a DUI crash in Adams County that killed his wife.
Steve David Atencio was driving a Honda Civic on July 23, 2016, when he attempted to enter the eastbound off-ramp for I-76 the wrong way at East 88th Avenue, according to a district attorney’s office media release. Atencio cut across three lanes of traffic and turned in front of a Ford Ranger pickup. The Ford crashed into the Honda’s front passenger side.
Atencio’s wife, Serina, 43, was a passenger in the front seat of the Honda. Their 24-year-old daughter was sleeping in the back seat.
Serina had to be extricated from the wreckage. She died at the scene. Their daughter was seriously injured. The couple had been married 25 years. Atencio’s blood-alcohol content was 0.233 an hour after the crash.
Atencio earlier pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide, DUI and careless driving causing serious injury. His three daughters pleaded for mercy at Wednesday’s sentencing, the release said.
Steve Atencio told the court, he “made the biggest mistake of my life. I feel imprisoned already with the emptiness I endure on a daily basis with feelings and memories of my beautiful wife who I love very much. It was an accident. I have to live with it the rest of my life.”
Adams County District Judge Sharon Holbrook, in handing down the sentence, said Atencio chose to drink and drive.
“You committed an intentional act when you put yourself behind that wheel, especially with your family in the car,” Holbrook said.
Atencio also was sentenced to three years of parole. He could be eligible for community corrections after serving nine months of the prison sentence.
