Case facts

The KS statute for murder begins, "The killing of another human being". It is simply the case that the victim of this crime did not pass away on impact. In fact, she would not pass away until she was removed from the vehicle by first responders. 

First responders have an incredibly difficult and precarious job. In no way does Isaiah want to shift blame or place the blame entirely on first responders. Nonetheless, it is a fact, the first responders to this accident were two police officers. The police officers arrived on scene 8 minutes after the crash. The police officers would then make the decision to extract the victim from the vehicle - despite there being no fire, no smoke, and no reason to extract before EMS would arrive. 

During extraction, you can distinctly hear the officers claim she is breathing on bodycam audio. During the extraction, one officer is unable to lift the victim over the center console, thus the other officer drags the victim over the center console and drops her on the sidewalk. This is the moment the victim stopped breathing. 

EMS arrived with a spineboard and neck-brace 30 seconds later.

It is our belief a secondary heart injury was the fatal injury in this crash. This is the exact heart injury;

"The heart has a 3 x 2 cm partial thickness laceration of the right atrial aspect of the interatrial septum. Subendocardial hemorrhage is noted on the left ventricular aspect of the interventricular septum. A 3 cm vertically-oriented full thickness laceration is noted of the anterior aspect of the left ventricle at the apex. A 3 x 0.3 cm horizontally-oriented contusion/ecchymosis is of the posterior epicardial aspect of the right atrium near the inferior vena cava, overlying the aforementioned laceration of the interatrial septum." 

Had the victim not been dropped on the pavement, had the officers waited 30 seconds, not even a full minute for a spineboard, the victim could be alive today. Furthermore, the cause of death in the autopsy is "Blunt Force Trauma". What can be considered blunt force trauma? Perhaps being unceremoniously and harshly dragged over the center console and dropped on the sikewalk? We only ask the question.

Is it possible this is a secondary heart injury, and not an injury that occurred on impact? Yes! According to research from The National Center For Biotechnology Information, "Cardiac injury following a fractured rib due to blunt trauma to chest is an extremely rare event and there are only isolated case reports in world literature [5-10]. All these injuries except one [5] followed motor vehicle accidents [6-10]." 

On top of this, there is a phone call between the officers who removed the victim. One side of the phone call is from the concerned officer, who has clocked out and taken her body cam off. The other is from the police officer at the hospital. The police officer answers the phone, listens, then tells the other officer "Shh, don't say that on the phone. Don't tell anyone that. We did the right thing, [the victim] would have passed away anyways". 

This call shows even the officers had reasonable doubt. If the officers on scene had reasonable doubt, wouldn't a jury?

Let's look back at that 2nd-degree murder statute. It states that the crime is committed "under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life." Oftentimes, you'll hear 2nd-degree murder called the "depraved heart mudrer". We've collected examples of other crimes charged with this statute, none of those crimes are first time offenders. Often times the crime is of the nature, "Shooting a gun aimlessly into a crowd.  You do not mean to hit anyone, but you do not care if you do."

The night of 12/27/2021, Isaiah attempted to stop the vehicle. From JOCO DA's own accident reconstruction expert, Isaiah had slowed the vehicle to 44mph at the time of impact, slowing from over 100 miles per hour 5 seconds before impact. This shows Isaiah was trying to stop the vehicle for the red light. Isaiah was attempting to stop the crash from happening. If Isaiah truly did not value human life, there would be no attempt to slow down or to stop.

This is a direct quote from the DA's reconstruction expert, "To me the

higher speed really is irrelevant in this case because I don't think there is any reason to think that he did anything else but what he was already doing which is braking and coming into the collision."

Another line of questioning from the DA's expert - where he stated he tracked Isaiah's vehicle for 30 or so blocks. During that time, Isaiah only reached a speed of 101mph at the most extreme - disproving many news outlet's theories claiming the speed was in the 130s.

"Q. And the highest possible speed that you determined from watching all of these videos over 30 blocks was possibly -- well, it was 101mph; correct?

A. Correct.

Q. So 101mph at the extreme end of your calculations?

A. Right."

Finally, regarding the braking;

Q. You gave a friction value. What was that?

A. It is .47.

Q. Where does that value come from, if you know?

A. Well, so it is a percentage of one G is what it is. They generally estimate that a good braking -- most cars are capable of up to about .8 or so. Most, you know, normal road cars. They estimate that most drivers can probably get a maximum of about point -- in the .6 range what they really can get out of a car. .47 is actually right along with what they estimate most just average drivers can get under hard braking is about -- so he is braking pretty hard.

Would an individual with the extreme indifference to the value of human life be "braking pretty hard"? We certainly think not. We believe, as it is charged, there is reasonable doubt Isaiah is guilty of 2nd-degree murder as defined in the "extreme indifference to the value of human life", when attempted to stop at an intersection - and attempting to avoid the accident all-together - evidently shows a care for human life.

It is essential to understand the fact that Isaiah was charged with murder, as opposed to manslaughter. As previously discussed, murder in this definition has be to committed "under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life."

We do not oppose the fact that Isaiah's actions on the night of December 27th were reckless, we oppose they were committed under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.

3 months prior to the accident on December 27th, Isaiah was involved in another car accident - this one not his fault. Isaiah was T-Boned at the intersection of 39th and Paseo on his way to sign papers for his second rental property. This collision happened on the drivers side door where the offender made no attempt to slow his vehicle. 

Isaiah's vehicle was totaled in this accident, and Isaiah was diagnosed with his twelfth medically diagnosed concussion. Isaiah would go on to see a concussion specialist. An independent adult, Isaiah brought no one with him to his doctor's appointment. This concussion specialist would tell Isaiah to go to vestibular therapy for 3 months, to not make any life altering decisions for 6 months, and any emotional ailments (such as depression or anxiety) would be significantly worse for the next 12 months.

Months before this accident, Isaiah had went out and began seeing a therapist on his own. He had received diagnosis for "Borderline Personality Disorder" and "Suicidal Ideation". Isaiah's vestibular therapist, concussion specialist, and therapist all agreed that any symptoms from these illnesses would be heightened - along with the general symptoms of a severe concussion. 

A concussion is not a mental injury, but a physical injury affecting your physchi. Thus imparing decision-making, rational thought, and can cause a slew of other mental health issues. With this concussion could Isaiah truly have committed ANY act that manifests itself in the extreme indifference to the value of human life? Knowing Isaiah had - on his own - began seeing a therapist months before either car accident, is it true Isaiah did not value other life? We certainly have reasonable doubt a clear mens rea could be established with these special, extenuating circumstances.