OGDEN, Utah, Oct. 24, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — A 17-year-old Layton girl pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of attempted murder in a car collision that killed two.
Marilee Gardner pleaded guilty in juvenile court, and was sentenced to juvenile detention. As part of her plea deal, she will face the same charge in adult court after she completes her juvenile sentence. In adult court, Gardiner faces 3 years to life in prison.
Gardner was behind the wheel of her parents’ Chevy Tahoe in the early morning of June 30, 2016, when she rear-ended a much smaller Hyundai Accent stopped at an intersection in Roy. Gardner told officers at the scene that she had done it on purpose in an attempt to kill herself.
Instead, she killed 20-year-old Madison Haan, of West Point, and 19-year-old Tyler Christianson, of Ogden.
“That night I wasn’t thinking clearly. My goal was to kill myself,” Gardner said in court Wednesday. “Instead I caused the deaths of Madi Haan and Tyler Christianson. I am truly sorry. I know saying sorry doesn’t change anything, but I am sorry and I will do all in my power to make amends.”
Juvenile Judge Sherene Dillon recommended Gardner remain in juvenile detention until she turns 21, but the final decision on the length of her juvenile term will be up to the Youth Board of Pardons.
The arrest warrant says that after the 2016 collision, Gardner ran into a nearby Winco food store, where she called her father and told him “she was in a crash in Roy city and she might have hurt someone.”
Gardner waved her Miranda rights and told a Roy Police detective she was “on her way to a Winegar’s in Roy city to meet a 17-year-old friend,” where she planned on “purchasing drugs, taking the drugs, then crashing her mother’s car with both of them inside in an attempt to kill themselves.”
The arrest warrant goes on to say Gardner had a troubled past and had attempted to run away on multiple occasions.
