A man who in 2020 stole a nursing home bus in Aurora and crashed it into oncoming traffic in Black Forest, killing two people, told victims’ family members to “get over it” before he was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison Friday afternoon.
Daihauonzadre Brooks-Jones, 21, pleaded guilty Friday afternoon in an agreement with prosecutors to two counts of vehicular homicide, and was handed two back-to-back 16-year sentences in the department of corrections, with five years of mandatory parole, by Fourth Judicial District Judge Laura Findorff. All other charges — over 40 — were dropped per the agreement.
Brooks-Jones, of Denver, pleaded guilty to stealing an Aurora nursing home bus and crashing head-on with two other vehicles at the intersection of Colorado 83 and Old Stagecoach Road in Black Forest, killing 42-year-old Kizzy Mary Aguirre and 66-year-old Sergio Sanchez, on Nov. 5, 2020. He was arrested one day later.
Before he was sentenced, several family members of Sanchez and Aguirre spoke to the court.
“I just want justice … and for this to be a lesson learned,” Maria Sanchez, Sergio’s wife of 48 years, said in a written statement read and translated from Spanish by her daughter, Aracely. Aracely Sanchez said she knew her father was watching over her family, and that she hoped Brooks-Jones could “think about what he did” and “change his life around.”
“He had a rough life, and I get it, I really do, but this is his chance,” she said about him.
Aguirre’s daughter, Vanessa, said she lost her best friend and mother that day.
“I hope that one day, I can forgive, but that was my best friend and my mom,” she said. “I wish that it would’ve been me instead of her.”
Brooks-Jones also chose to give a statement, saying that “life is very valuable,” but that “once things are out of control, obviously, you have no say over what’s going to happen.” He also noted that he too would be separated from his family, per the sentence discussed in the plea agreement.
As he gave his statement, at least two family members protested from the gallery, asking what the point was.
Tensions in the audience rose as Brooks-Jones continued to speak. After one shout, he was heard saying to “get over it, like I am.”
“F- — you, man,” said Aguirre’s older brother, Richard Jacob Pruitt, storming off with other family members as Findorff ordered him out of the courtroom.
After he finished his statement, Findorff handed down Brooks-Jones’ prison sentence, sticking to the term recommended in the agreement.
Before she did, she told him that while she didn’t believe he intended the results of that day, he’d made a series of wrong choices that led to them. She also noted Sanchez and Aguirre’s families had extended to him “grace” and hope that he could change.
“What you just said right now does not convince me that is your intent,” she told him.
Aguirre’s sister, Carmel Aguirre, told The Gazette her family didn’t support the plea agreement, adding that Brooks-Jones hadn’t received a “harsh enough sentence.”
Pruitt later said to The Gazette that the highlight of the case should be those lost, not what Brooks-Jones said.
“We loved her. Her family loves her, and she will always be in our memories,” he said about his sister.
