Driver charged in friend’s death after fatal Ogden crash

OGDEN — The driver of a car involved in a crash that killed a 21-year-old Ogden woman in March has been arrested and charged with automobile homicide.

Alyssa Palomo, 21, was arrested last week and booked into the Weber County Jail. She was ordered to be held without bail by 2nd District Judge Cristina Ortega.

Palomo is facing one count of automobile homicide, a second-degree felony; negligently operating a vehicle resulting in injury and having an open container of alcohol on a highway, both misdemeanors; as well as failure to operate a vehicle within a single lane and speeding, both infractions.

On March 29, Palomo was driving a Ford Focus north on Harrison Boulevard after she left a party where witnesses told police she had been drinking alcohol. TyLar Londyn Palmer, 21, was also in the Focus, in the back seat.

Just after midnight, police say Palomo’s vehicle crossed the center of the road, near 30th Street, and went into the path of a southbound Ford F-350 truck.

“The driver of the F-350 attempted to avoid the Focus by swerving into the center lane; the Focus then swerved back to the center lane, resulting in a head-on crash,” the affidavit states.

Police believe Palomo was traveling an estimated 70 mph when the crash occurred, while the speed limit on the roadway is 40 mph. Investigators also found an open can of Monaco cocktail and a partial bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila in Palomo’s car, the affidavit states.

Police report Palomo’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.21% — more than four times Utah’s legal limit — at the time of the crash. Testing also showed THC in her system, the affidavit says.

The driver of the F-350 was not impaired and experienced minor injuries, according to the affidavit.

Witnesses told investigators that prior to the crash, Palomo and her friends had picked a designated driver. Palomo, however, insisted on driving and “got into the driver’s seat when she and her friends were asked to leave the party due to her increasingly loud and disruptive behavior,” the affidavit states.

The designated driver “repeatedly told Palomo that she should not drive” and attempted to prevent her from doing so, according to the affidavit. But after Palmer got into the back seat of the vehicle, Palomo “slammed (the driver’s door) closed, locked it and drove away, leaving the designated driver behind,” the document says.

Palomo was arrested and booked into jail on June 19. It was not immediately clear why police waited two and a half months to make the arrest.

She is scheduled for an initial appearance in court on Tuesday morning.

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Contributing: Jordan Ormond