Utah drunk driver who killed mother and son blamed the victims, phone calls with father reveal
A drunk driver who mowed down a mother and her son on Halloween in 2021 apologized for the heartless comments she made to her father after the deadly crash as she pleaded to be paroled, according to a report.
Kesley Pope, 24, begged a Utah parole board to be let loose from jail three years after she killed Season Dow, 43, and Dow’s 16 year-old son Toby in Orem in court on Aug. 27, where she first addressed the sickening remarks, local news outlet KUTV reported.
KUTV obtained phone calls between Pope and her father, Jeff Pope, after she had been arrested blaming the victims for their deaths.
The Dows were heading home from an Andrea Bocelli concert in Salt Lake City when they pulled over on Interstate 15 in Utah County when they ran out of gas.
Pope, who was 22 at the time and twice over the legal driving limit, plowed into the car as it sat on the shoulder.
Season Dow died at the scene while Toby was airlifted to an area hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.
“They’re some at fault already with them being on the freeway out of gas, that’s against the law,” Jeff tells her daughter in one phone call to Utah State Prison where she is serving up to 10 years, according to KUTV.
“Yeah,” Kesley responds from behind bars before her eventual conviction.
In another disturbing exchange just 17 days after the horrific wreck, Kesley called her father Jeff and coldly told him she was “just so glad that it’s my first offense ever.”
“Oh yeah, you’re so lucky there, I mean it’s life changing,” Jeff responded.
“It’s your first offense, they always are nice to first offenders,” he continued, to which she replied that she knows.
During Pope’s parole hearing, she said she saw the report on the phone calls the local news.
“I want to apologize because I was thrown off by this news segment that I saw last night. I’m so sorry for some of the things my family has said,” she said. “No matter what was said from my family it was so wrong and it is my fault, and I will never not say that it wasn’t my fault.”
“My heart hurts for you and your family so, so much,” Pope told the parole board. “My selfish decision broke your innocent family, and I wish I could take it back every single day.”
Christian Dow, Season’s wife and Toby’s husband, was in the courtroom for the parole hearing. He told KUTV he was shocked when he heard Pope and her father’s phone conversations.
“It doesn’t seem like any accountability has been taken from the Pope family on this issue. Because they were blaming my family for that accident saying it was their fault and not taking any responsibility or accountability for the fact here that Ms. Pope was drunk driving a vehicle with no insurance,” he said.
He said Kesley needs to stay in prison for ten years and take accountability.
Christian Dow filed a civil lawsuit against Kesley and her father for negligence and wrongful death.
Pope told the parole board that she is back in a treatment program, and detailed her history of drinking.
She started drinking when she was 18 after moving to Costa Rica, where she was the legal drinking age. Both her parents, who were not present at the hearing, suffer from substance abuse problems, she claimed.
If granted parole, she would live with her grandfather, who was in the courtroom.
A decision is expected sometime late September, the board said.
