Woman who killed Uintah coach in 2008 jailed
A woman who is on probation for hitting and killing Uintah High School softball coach Claye Robb in 2008 has been sentenced to jail after violating her probation for the second time. The latest violation for Aimee Jo Rowell was a positive drug test for methamphetamine, according to a sworn statement from her probation officer. Rowell, 26, was arrested Aug. 3 on a warrant for other alleged probation violations and booked into the Uintah County Jail. At the jail, she was asked to submit to a drug test. The test returned a positive result for methamphetamine, court records state. “The defendant denies using any illegal drugs,” the probation officer wrote. “This raises serious concern due to the fact that this defendant is presently six months pregnant.” The officer added that he believes Rowell has a “serious drug addiction” and is “unwilling to either seek assistance or make any attempts to clean up.” “It's apparent that if there is no intervention at this point, the (unborn) child will have no chance,” the officer wrote, adding that “incarceration is requested to assure that Ms. Rowell remains drug free.” Eighth District Judge A. Lynn Payne appeared to agree with that assessment during a hearing last Tuesday to address the alleged probation violations. After Rowell admitted to testing positive for meth, and to failing to take random drug tests or report to her probation officer, Payne ordered that she be jailed until her baby is born. “This baby is worth the 90 days you'll do in jail,” the judge told an emotional Rowell, who repeatedly looked back at her mother and father in the courtroom gallery with pleading eyes. “We're here today because you killed someone,” Payne continued. “I don't want you to take another life,” he said, referring to Rowell's unborn child. Rowell was driving a pickup truck on Nov. 21, 2008, about 9:30 p.m. when she hit Robb, a 48-year-old financial adviser who also coached the Uintah High School softball team, from behind. A passing motorist contacted authorities to report the crash. Investigators said repeatedly that evidence showed Rowell was not driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the crash. She was ultimately charged with negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor, after reconstruction experts determined she was driving 45 mph when she struck Robb. The posted speed limit in the area is 35 mph. Robb was walking about four feet off the road when he was hit, according to the evidence. Rowell pleaded guilty to the charge in February 2009 and was given a suspended term of one year in jail, ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and serve two years on court-supervised probation. However, court records show that she pleaded guilty in October 2009 in Vernal Justice Court to a disorderly conduct charge and was referred to Tri-County Probation for supervision. Payne said last week that Rowell can be released from the jail to go to medical appointments only and when her baby is ready to be delivered. In addition to the jail term, Payne terminated and then restarted Rowell's probation for another three years.
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I have to say its about time someone laid the law down. It seems more and more people are getting away with Murder (no pun intended). She was given two chances to turn her life around and here she is in more trouble. I hope she actually has to go back to jail after the baby is born. Or that she at least makes an effort with the time she has in jail to get clean and become a mom. The count down is on her. Hopefully her lesson will be learned this time.
I remember that many of her church members insisted that she was a fantastic girl who simply made a mistake and should be given mercy, (a plea that they wouldn't have made for any non-LDS). The sentiment was that it was a freak accident that could have happened to anyone, she surely wasn't driving too fast or not paying attention like many of the teens/young adults here (many wholesome church-goers I imagine) who drive like maniacs and put the rest of us in danger.
I imagine that we will now get to hear how this sweet young girl turned to meth because of the tremendous guilt she suffered over killing that man and from the just horrible treatment she received in the press (i.e. the story was covered in the paper.)
This mug shot says it all, folks.
I was editor of the paper when the initial story ran in 2008.
The public outcry (mostlly militantly supportive LDS members) was mind-boggling and frightening.
I'm curious how this latest story will play out, though I have my suspicions.
Patrick Timothy Mullikin
City Editor Ely (Nev.) Times
patricktimothymullikin.com
First of how can you say that it was murder? It was an ACCIDENT! It could have happened to any of us at any time. She was NOT drinking,NOTon drugs,NOT texting. She was going 10 miles over the speed limit which I am sure that all of you have done at some time in your life. And what does being an lds member have to do with all of this? Im sure that the judge did not say oh because you are a good mormon girl I am not going to punish you. Are you kidding me? Thevernal express has harassed Aimee they have run the story over and over again. And not only does it hurt her it hurts the Robb family and her family to have to relive this terrible time in their lives. I would hope that now that she is in jail and serving her time that this will all be the end of it for both families and Aimee. Hopefully she will be able to get out and be a good mom and stay clean. But all of you people thriving off of this need to get a life and deal with your own issues because everybody has their own problems. I would also like to ask why this story has been ran week after week? When there have been teachers molesting their students and moms sexueally sodimizing her own son that those stories are ran one time and then forgotten about??? Why do we not hear more on them? Well I hope the best for Aimee and hope that no one ever has to go through what she has because untell you have been in her shoes who are you to judge?
Mr. Ashby --
Why, pray tell, didn't this important story make it in your print edition?
It should have been the top story. You know that.
This is real news.
Patrick Timothy Mullikin
City Editor Ely (Nev.) Times
patricktimothymullikin.com
Dear Mr.Mulkin
Why don'tyou get a life? If you would reald last weeks paper it was in the Vernal Express and in the Standard! So why should they run the same story over again? DUH!
I think that you all are really making this story a nightmare to read. Enough is enough seriously I cannot imagine that both families are having a hard enough time dealing with what happened without reading about it in almost every weekly paper. Leave it alone everyone makes mistakes an has a past they would like to forget. In my opinion its more like slander of this gal then a real news worthy story.
~Enough already GEOFFFF, haven’t you ruined enough lives yet trying to make yourself look cool? Well you don’t, most people think you are an idiot!
~@pasteditor, whatever! Bitter much?
~@strawberries, remorse and guilt can drive a person to do anything! Don’t even pretend to understand! If you don’t like Mormons, who cares, bitter much?
~@sweetpea, This accident should be left to play out without the hindrance of the media! BUT, the media lies and sadly those that are supposed to protect and honor the law lie, (to make themselves look cool.) Believing what you read, (or don’t read in your case) in the media, especially the local paper is pathetic at best, so therefore you don’t deserve to know the truth!
~Does anyone believe that dragging this story on and on and on and on, (Geoffff) and on and on, really think they are helping the family of Mr. Robb? (btw, It’s NOT making you look cool!)
~I pray that the Robb family can finally be left alone to find peace and that Ms. Rowell can find the strength and inner peace to make herself worthy of being a mommy to the child she is carrying.
“Do not brood over your past mistakes and failures as this will only fill your mind with grief, regret and depression. Do not repeat them in the future.” ~ Swami Sivananda
I think it is so small town to print this in the paper! So many people get off on this kind of drama! It is sad. PERIOD. I think everyone has something ugly about them that we could dig up and print in the Vernhell Express. Spend your time trying to make this world a better place. Rather than being a big ol' judge. It's so gross and embarassing. I love how its important to know whether she went to church or not. Do you know how many supposed loooosers I know who are big in the church. I can say "the church" right? Ya'll know. People make mistakes. For those of you out there saying this could never be my daughter or my sister, careful....This will be sad no matter how it turns out. SAD. There is suffering going on in this little girls heart that you may never know. Maybe not in regards to the accident. Maybe. YOU dont know. Who knows what has lead her to this point. WWJD?
re: this being an ACCIDENT: If this were an accident and not a result of any negligence on her part, she would not have faced jail time and be on probation. She was charged with NEGLIGENT homicide. No one is saying she intentionally killed someone that night, but she was negligent even if she was "only" going ten miles over the speed limit and wasn't drinking. The accident was reconstructed by experts, and according to the article, " Robb was walking about four feet off the road when he was hit", which means she swerved off the road.
@jbrand: my comments were not really about what guilt and remorse can do to a person, or about not liking Mormons. My comment was that 1) people defended her as if she was a victim, and that it should have been swept under the rug instead of using the incident to show others in the community what can happen when you aren't paying attention while driving and 2) a kid without connections in the community (church members or a large family) would have been sold down the river without nary a word from anyone about "forgiveness". Just something to think about, not a condemnation of Mormons. I think if I were negligent while driving and killed someone (as a newcomer) I'd expect to have my name printed in the paper. I would take it as part of my punishment, and I would have expected jail time.
For the record, I would have been fine with them leaving her name out of the paper while still reporting the original story AND the follow-up brushes with the law. But, I don't agree that this story is not worth printing or that it shouldn't be because of the families. This happened in PUBLIC not in private, and my loved ones drive and walk out there in public where I want them to be safe. The community has a say in justice, not just the families involved.
laylaway: it is not "so small town" to print this is in the paper. Coming from a large city, I can assure you that these kind of stories are printed in the paper, with names and photos, in the big-town papers too. What is so small-town is to expect that some people get in the paper for their wrongs, while others do not.
WOW!! I never new that Vernal had so many perfect people. I really am surprised that the whole town of Vernal has not been lifted right up to the Celestial Kingdom!! I hope for the sake of both families and Aimee, the Vernal Express can find some new news and stop bringing this up EVERY WEEK!!!
Any one that knows the real aimee jo loves her and knows the real story, the picture says nothing, she is a fun and beautiful person that just went through a rough patch. i love her and will stand by her to the end. she is a strong woman and she will live a normal life and be a wonderful mom. i feel blessed to have known her and to have been her friend for the past nearly 13 years. she has done her time and the past is the past. love you flow:)