A 23-year-old Colorado woman has been arrested in the fatal crash that killed a 17-year-old Team USA cyclist training for the world championships earlier this year.
Magnus White was on his last training ride before leaving for the UCI World Championships in cotland when he was struck by a car and killed on July 29 in his hometown of Boulder, Cycling Weekly reported.
According to a report from the Colorado State Patrol, Yeva Smilianska was adriving a Toyota Matrix and experienced a “steering difficulty” that caused her to drift onto the wide paved shoulder, where she struck White, KMGH reported. A first responder said it didn’t appear she was on the phone or otherwise distracted and did not appear to have tried to avoid the collision.
Her car traveled off the shoulder and onto a grass embankment, where it came to a stop after colliding with a fence.
Smilianska was arrested Tuesday and charged with vehicular homicide, Cycling Weekly said.
The White family released a lengthy statement after the arrest, saying that Smilianska “willfully and consciously chose to get behind the wheel of her car, engaging in reckless driving behavior that resulted in the fatal collssion into our son Magnus who was struck from behind and ejected from his bicycle.”
They further said it was “essential” that Smilianska get the maximum penalty “not only for her willful actions, but also for the profound pain and sufferent endured by Magnus’s mother, father, brother, family, friends, teammates and entire community — a dark shadow of grief that will hang over them for the remainder of their lives.”
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image; Magnus White/GoFundMe]
