News : Man who killed cyclist in 2004 drunk driving accident gets 90 days for Benton Co. OWI charge

A dozen years ago, Waterloo resident Jeremy Sawyer stood handcuffed in a courtroom, tearfully apologizing to the family of the 20-year-old motorcyclist he had killed while driving drunk. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about what I've done," Sawyer said in court on April 9, 2005, when he was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison on a charge of vehicular homicide. But last Thursday, Sawyer, now 38, stood in court again -- this time in Benton County District Court in Vinton -- after pleading to guilty of drunk driving in June of 2016. Judge Paul Miller reminded Sawyer of what he had said in 2005, and stated, "Clearly there was one day you did not think about that." In the early morning hours of June 30, 2004, Sawyer was driving on Highway 58 when his vehicle crossed the median and headed toward a motorcycle. According to accident investigators, the cyclist, Kyle Zey, laid his bike down in an attempt to avoid the collision. Sawyer missed the cycle, but hit Zey, who died at the scene. Sawyer then drove home, later telling officers he did not know he had hit anyone. After serving more than seven years in prison, Sawyer was released. On June 4, 2016, he was heading east out of the Wildcat Bluff Park, on 57th Street Trail, when he lost control on a curve, rolling his truck into the ditch. Both he and a passenger suffered injuries that were not life-threatening. The Iowa State Trooper who filed charges indicated in his report that Sawyer had alcoholic beverages or containers in his vehicle, had an odor of alcohol on his breath, and bloodshot or watery eyes. After refusing to consent for a PBT (preliminary breath test) and later refusing to provide blood or urine samples, Sawyer was charged with OWI under the Iowa implied consent law. He pleaded guilty to OWI in November. Miller asked Sawyer to explain why after causing a fatal accident while drinking, he was back in court on an OWI charge. Sawyer responded that he had made poor choices. "I can't change what I did," he said. "I am deeply sorry." The prosecution, through assistant Benton County Attorney Brett Schilling, asked the court for a two-year jail sentence. Sawyer's defense attorney responded, saying that 30 days in jail was a sufficient deterrent. The judge then told the defendant that he considered none of the options for sentencing overly harsh. He then gave sentenced Sawyer to one year in the county jail, with all but 90 days suspended, along with two year's probation, fines and substance abuse evaluations. He is also required to stay away from alcohol during that time. The defense requested that the sentence begin in one week; Judge Miller refused the request, ordering Sawyer to go straight across the street to the county jail. "This can't be a surprise to you," the judge told Sawyer. Among the exhibits presented to the court, was a letter from the family of Kyle Zey, who asked the judge to remember his death when sentencing Sawyer. A Waterloo Courier article about the sentencing was also admitted into evidence. Click HERE to see a page of tributes and memorials to Kyle Zey.