A former star athlete at Mead High School accused of fatally running over an 8-year-old Longmont girl on her bike told police he thought he’d hit the curb — until he saw the girl’s stepfather waving at him, according to an arrest affidavit released Friday.
Kyle Kenneth Couch, 20, turned right onto Longmont’s 17th Avenue on a red light at the same time Peyton Knowlton rolled into the Alpine Street crosswalk on May 20. The girl died from her injuries.
Couch, of Longmont, surrendered to police Friday on an arrest warrant that included charges of vehicular homicide and driving under the influence of drugs.
Longmont police this week revealed — more than two months after the crash — that they suspect Couch was under the influence of marijuana at the time.
One blood sample collected more than two hours after the collision tested positive for cannabinoids, finding 1.5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood.
That’s below Colorado’s legal limit of 5 nanograms per milliliter. But Deputy Police Chief Jeff Satur said the law allows the DUI charge when those test results are combined with officer observations of impaired behavior and marijuana evidence found inside Couch’s Ford F-250 pickup.also
Couch also is facing the following additional charges:
• Prohibited use of weapons, because police found two rifles and a shotgun inside his vehicle (it’s illegal to have firearms while being under the influence)
• Failing to stop for traffic control signal at place required
• Failing to yield right of way to pedestrian at steady walk signal
• Unlawful possession of ethyl alcohol by an underage person
• Unlawful possession of marijuana by an underage person
• Unlawful possession of marijuana paraphernalia by an underage person
• Criminal possession of a forged instrument because he had two fake IDs
Couch posted $20,000 bond on Friday and is scheduled to be formally charged Aug. 12 in the courtroom at the Boulder County Jail.
The presumptive sentencing range for vehicular homicide, a Class 3 felony, is four to 12 years in prison.
Couch attends Colorado Mesa University, where, in 2015, he appeared in six games as a linebacker as a red shirt freshman for the football team.
In 2013, Couch became the first athlete from Mead High School to win a state title when he captured the Class 4A wrestling championship at 182 pounds.
He was named the Longmont Times-Call’s Wrestler of the Year that season and was able to defend his crown a year later, winning the 4A title at 195 pounds to cap his senior season with a 49-1 record.
‘We feel there is evidence’
Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett said the two most complex factors in the investigation were an accurate re-creation of the crash and thorough toxicology analysis.
“We feel there is evidence to establish both of those things, but he is presumed innocent and the case will be decided in court,” Garnett said.
According to an arrest affidavit, Couch consented to a breath test but not, initially, to a blood test because he said he ate a marijuana cookie “during college” and did not know if it would show up in his system.
Following the crash, a police drug recognition expert interviewed Couch and administered voluntary roadside maneuvers, and reported observing eyelid tremors and other clues of impairment consistent with cannabis use.
Couch later said the last time he had used marijuana was three to four days earlier. He said he ingests marijuana through edibles. He also said he drinks alcohol, but the last time he’d done that was one week prior.
After he was arrested, Couch agreed to have blood samples drawn.
When police searched Couch’s truck, they found three 16-ounce cans of Coors Light in a backpack in the back seat, according to the affidavit. Two cans were unopened and a third was opened and partially full.
A glass smoking pipe with burnt residue that smelled like marijuana was found in another small satchel, police reported.
Two rifles, one shotgun and numerous rifle rounds and shotgun shells were located behind the back seat, according to the affidavit.
An unopened bottle of Fireball-brand whiskey was found in the center console as well, police noted.
Stopped for a ‘second or so’
A sign at the corner of Alpine Street and 17th Avenue, where Peyton and her stepfather waited to cross, reads, “Turning traffic must yield to pedestrians.”
One witness said Couch’s truck stopped in Alpine’s northbound right turn lane while waiting to turn onto 17th.
The witness told police she saw Peyton’s bike start to “get away from her” and she rolled down the slope from the sidewalk to the road and went under the right rear tire of the truck.
The witness said the truck was not behind the crosswalk, saying, “It’s like what we all do when we are trying to make a right turn. We creep up a little to see.”
Another witness said he observed the scene from the southbound left turn lane on Alpine, where he waited at a red light. He said he observed the pickup stopped at the intersection of the northbound right turn lane and the cyclists at the traffic pole potentially deciding which way to travel.
A driver traveling west on 17th said he had a green light as he approached the intersection. He said the truck stopped for a “second or so” and then continued rolling forward.
Cody Shetley, Peyton’s stepfather, told police he was yelling at his daughter to stop as she was entering the crosswalk. Shetley said the truck came to a complete stop quickly and then started making the right turn as he was yelling at the driver.
Police on July 14 towed the pickup truck back to the intersection, where they took measurements and photographs.
They discovered that when the truck was pulled past the painted stop bar, the view of the southwest corner of the intersection was obstructed by the vehicle’s front-passenger window supports and the passenger-side mirror.
The view was unobstructed through the windshield when the truck was stopped behind the stop bar, according to the arrest affidavit.
Amelia Arvesen: 303-684-5212, arvesena@times-call.com or twitter.com/ameliaarvesen
