A Colorado state senator was responsible for the vehicle crash that killed her in November, officials said on Friday. An autopsy released by the local coroner’s office showed that her blood alcohol concentration after she died was more than twice the legal limit.
Senator Faith Winter was driving south of Denver on Interstate 25 on Nov. 26 when the Hyundai Ioniq 5 that she was driving rear-ended a Ford F-350 truck that had stopped in traffic, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado said in a statement. Ms. Winter, a Democrat, was the sole occupant of her car and was pronounced dead at the scene.
At the time, officials said she had been involved in a five-vehicle crash. But after an investigation, officials determined that there had been two separate crashes, the second involving Ms. Winter.
Three people were injured in the crashes, and it was not immediately clear whether anyone in the truck was among them. A request for comment from the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office was not immediately returned early Saturday morning.
The sheriff’s office said that the truck Ms. Winter collided with did not have visible rear taillights at the time of the crash but that its driver but had been “driving with due regard.”
“The investigation concluded that Senator Winter was at fault for the second crash,” the office said.
According to the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office, Ms. Winter died from “multiple blunt force injuries sustained in the crash.” A toxicology test found that her blood alcohol concentration was 0.185, the coroner’s office said, more than twice the legal standard of 0.08 to be considered driving under the influence in most states, including Colorado.
Ms. Winter, 45, joined the state senate in 2018, representing Colorado’s 24th district and, after a redistricting, its 25th. She previously served in the Colorado House of Representatives and as a city councilwoman.
She was known for her environmental advocacy, including her efforts to pass a measure that raised billions of dollars for transportation projects by imposing fees on the purchase of gas and diesel fuel. She was also a champion of statewide paid family leave and introduced legislation for a program in 2015.
Jonathan Wolfe is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news.
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