Drunk driver sentenced to 16 years in prison for Phoenix freeway crash that killed motorcyclist
A 23-year-old man was sentenced last week to 16 years in prison for his role in a fiery Phoenix highway crash that killed a motorcyclist in September 2024.
PHOENIX — A 23-year-old man was sentenced last week to 16 years in prison for his role in a fiery Phoenix highway crash that killed a motorcyclist in September 2024.
According to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Andrew Ramirez Perez previously pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder, which covers killings caused by extreme indifference to human life.
Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers estimated Perez was driving 125 mph in the HOV lane of eastbound Interstate 10 on September 22 just after 1 a.m., prosecutors said. The troopers observed him weaving through traffic at the Loop 202 South Mountain interchange before he rear-ended a motorcycle.
Both the motorcycle and Perez’s vehicle caught fire.
The motorcyclist, 42-year-old Craig Cooper, was killed. He left behind a wife and two small children, according to a funeral announcement.
Investigators found an open container of alcohol in Perez’s back seat. His blood-alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit of .08.
“There is no amount of justice that can bring back a loved one who was lost in such a sudden and tragic way,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a news release. “The best we can do is ensure that this reckless disregard for life does not go unpunished.”
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Kiefer handed down the sentence on April 3.
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Comments
2 Comments
Craig was my bestfriend. He died on my birthday when this guy murdered him. As court proved he was driving over 150 mph more than double the limit and just had a previous dui two months before he killed my friend. I was in court that day and they were trying to make the excuse of how he is young and learn to be a better person in society with a lower sentence. But yet he just had a previous dui in the same area when he killed Craig and did t learn from that. What took him to learn was killing an innocent person. He was supposed to get 16/25 years and all came down to what I seen that he’s a young man that and had no prior an except the dui two months before this dui. It was ridiculous and I was very upset with the decision of only 16 years!! He will be out by in his late 30’s still being able to live his life have a family ect. While his boys 4 and 7 will no longer grown up with their father being around for school events, sports evebnts, graduation their marriages so and so on. The judge even said this was the worst dui death he has ever seen as a judge with the high speeds he was going when he hit Craig. But it being the worts he’s ever seen he still gave him the least sentence. The system sucks and is not fair. 16 years for murdering someone on his second dui is not justice.
125 MPH seems a bit excessive - .08 B.A.L. is not ..
.. so this guy was just being a "Richard" out there, and a rider is gone, and a family is fatherless because of it.
16 yrs is not even close to "justice" in this case ..