LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — A Jefferson County jury has awarded $353 million in damages to the Estate of Gwen Inglis and her husband Michael after the pro cyclist was hit and killed by an impaired driver last year.
That driver, Ryan Montoya, was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to charges over the summer. On Tuesday, an attorney representing Gwen’s family says a civil case ended with the $353 million verdict.
“Gwen will never come back, and you can’t put a number on anybody,” her brother, Keith Erffmeyer, said. “But we hope this serves as a deterrent. That anybody who even thinks about doing this pauses and says an Uber or something else might be a much better decision here.”
Gwen’s husband Michael was riding just feet behind her and has said Montoya barely missed him before running over his wife. He too hopes the dollar figure will serve as a deterrent for others thinking about driving impaired.
“I, as an individual, never want another guy or gal on this planet to have to go through what we as a family just had to go through,” he said. “This is a deterrent to all those guys and gals out there doing that same kind of thing.”