Utah woman sentenced to prison in 2023 for hit-and-run

Brittany Dee pleaded guilty to a felony charge

Brittany Dee, the Utah woman who left the scene of a 2023 accident in which a Durango motorcyclist lost her lower left leg, was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison, the maximum sentence possible under a plea agreement.

The 25-year-old woman pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, a Class 4 felony, in 6th District Court before Judge Nathaniel Baca. She then went down to La Plata District Court and pleaded guilty to driving under the influence, after which she was arrested on July 4.

Judge Reid Stewart sentenced her to three years' probation and 60 days in jail on that charge, taking into account her 47 days in custody. Dee will serve the probation concurrently with the mandatory three years' probation that will follow her prison term.

The two-year sentence is the lowest penalty she would face if convicted by a jury, between two and six years in prison, but it is also far longer than the 90 days in jail and probation her attorney had requested.

Dee, dressed in blue prison garb and handcuffed, spoke in a few words to the judge and a courtroom filled with about 40 people split evenly on both sides. She apologized several times in a gentle statement punctuated by long pauses.

“I am very sorry about the incidents, especially Ms. Wages,” she said, occasionally glancing at the 71-year-old sitting in the front row.

The trial ended a dispute that had lasted more than a year for Dee and Jeanette Wages, the motorcyclist who was hit.

Jeanette Wages with her dog Gunner at her home in La Plata County on March 20. Wages was hit by a pickup truck while riding her motorcycle, resulting in the amputation of her lower left leg. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald-File)

Dee was driving her boyfriend's Ford F-150 pickup truck on July 23, 2023, when she attempted to turn left into a parking space on East Eighth Avenue near Third Street in Durango. She ignored Wages, who was riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in the opposite direction. The force of the impact threw Wages 26 feet into the curb, she said Tuesday.

A male passenger exited the vehicle briefly before re-entering and driving away. Bystanders helped police identify the truck, which an officer recognized from an encounter the previous day. Police contacted Dee, who fled to Aneth, Utah, by phone and she agreed to turn herself in.

Dee was also driving her boyfriend's truck when several people called 911 on July 4 to report that a vehicle – later identified as Dee's – was traveling south on U.S. Highway 550 and driving on the wrong side of the road.

Jeanette Wages walks with a prosthetic leg in her La Plata County home on March 20. Wages was hit by a pickup truck while riding her motorcycle, resulting in the amputation of her lower left leg. (Jerry McBride/ Durango Herald-File)

Wages, who wore a prosthetic leg on Tuesday and walked with a bumpy gait to the podium, said Dee was “on a very destructive path.”

“It's a hopeless situation,” Wages said after the hearing. “I'm just very glad that Judge Baca recognizes what's going on. He's compassionate, but responsible.”

Dee’s family was also relieved by the result.

At a hearing in March, Baca rejected a plea deal that would have limited Dee's sentence to 90 days, but the judge indicated that prison time was warranted.

“I'm relieved that the judge didn't try to follow his pattern and push it (to deny the motion),” said Christina Morgan, a close relative of Dee.

The hearing was also the first real opportunity for Dee, her family and her lawyer to speak in detail about the incident and Dee's character.

Members of Dee's family, who are Navajo, traveled several hours from across the Four Corners to appear in court last year. On Tuesday, they painted a picture of a young woman who cares deeply about her community, who cared for her great-grandmother until she was 110 years old and who struggles to come out of her shell.

Dee was not able to speak until she was six years old, her aunt Yanua Morgan explained in court, and has always had difficulty expressing herself.

“We were shocked to hear she was in this situation,” Morgan said.

Beale Tejada, Dee's attorney, said he wanted to provide perspective, not a justification or an excuse, but an explanation for what happened.

What Wages and her community described as apparent insensitivity – bone fragments protruded from the motorcyclist's leg and another lay on the ground – was in reality more complicated.

Witnesses shouted unkind things at Dee, her family said, and passengers in the car told her to run away.

“She shouldn’t have given in to the pressure in the car,” Tejada said.

He cited the influence of Dee's boyfriend as a factor, as Dee's brother Mckale Dee wrote in a letter to the judge.

“I never really approved of their relationship, but out of respect for my sister, I accepted it,” Mckale wrote. “But I definitely feel like he had some influence on her, and not in a good way.”

In interviews after the trial, Dee's relatives said it was difficult to watch Brittany, a soft-spoken baker who lives a dignified life, being demonized on a public stage.

“It really takes her a while to open up,” said her sister Latifa Dee. “… She's funny, she has all kinds of interests, she's kind of a little nerdy.”

Dee and her family said they have always said Wages' name during ceremonies and prayers since the crash.

In a departure from the judge's usual procedural remarks, Baca seemed to evaluate Dee, her personality and the role alcohol played in her life. He said he saw someone struggling to be a part of this world, a struggle that was mitigated by alcohol.

“It’s no longer a drink at this point, it’s a lifestyle,” he said.

Baca indicated that the maximum sentence of two years was not enough. “Frankly, a two-year sentence doesn't do much for the community,” he said. He called on Dee to “repent.”

Jeanette Wages of Durango was an avid motorcyclist before she was struck by a car driver in July 2023. The driver who struck her, Brittany Dee, fled the scene of the accident. Wages lost the lower part of her left leg. (Courtesy of GoFundMe)

Wages said learning more about Dee hasn't made it any easier to deal with the young woman's actions, but she also advocated that Dee seek help for her substance abuse and counseling.

“I hope she can change and become a responsible person,” Wages said.

Concluding her remarks to the judge, Dee expressed regret but seemed to confirm the characterizations her family members had just made about her.

“All I can think of is that I’m really sorry,” she said.

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