Driver sentenced to prison for hitting, killing 16-year-old boy

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A Sandy man will serve up to 15 years in prison for a May 2021 vehicle crash that caused the death of a 16-year-old boy.

In March, a jury trial found Daniel Stanislav MacBeth, 29, guilty of manslaughter, a second-degree felony.

He was sentenced May 17 to one to 15 years in the Utah State Prison.

On May 25, 2021, 16-year-old Ammon Chandler Blake was turning left from Redwood Road onto Harvest Hills Boulevard in Saratoga Springs when he was hit by MacBeth’s Mercedes 500 that ran a red light, police said.

Ammon was killed in the collision.

MacBeth was traveling somewhere between 84mph and 99 mph in a 50 mph zone at the time of the crash, charging documents said. About 2 miles before the crash, MacBeth was tailgating an off-duty officer so closely that the officer could not see the hood or the front license plate of MacBeth’s car.

MacBeth quickly changed lanes and sped past the officer about a mile before the crash, reaching his arm out the window and flipping off the officer as he did so, according to charging documents.

Witnesses told police the traffic light had been red for two to three seconds before MacBeth entered the intersection. According to charging documents, MacBeth claimed that when the light turned yellow he didn’t have enough distance to stop because of the speed he was going at, so he stepped on the gas instead.

MacBeth allegedly told police he “had been drinking alcohol earlier in the morning and that he woke up and was driving to a job.” Yet a toxicology report showed that MacBeth had actually used cocaine prior to the crash, charges said.

At the time of the crash, he was an alcohol-restricted driver with a suspended license, and police had a warrant out for his arrest for failing to show up to a court hearing related to that case.

MacBeth pleaded guilty in March to three additional charges that all received concurrent jail sentences. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail for driving with a measurable controlled substance, a class B misdemeanor; 180 days for being an alcohol-restricted driver, a class B misdemeanor; and 90 days for driving on a suspended or revoked license, a class C misdemeanor. Credit was granted for 180 days previously served.