RAWLINS — Phil Prime woke up Tuesday morning and prayed for the man who killed his two college-age daughters outside Rawlins, Wyoming, last year.
Then, thronged by family members of the other three young people Arthur Nelson, 59, killed by triggering a fatal chain-reaction crash on Interstate 80, Prime went to Nelson’s sentencing hearing in Carbon County District Court on Tuesday to repeat the same prayer.
“I do forgive Mr. Nelson, and I have never hated him. Yet I pray for him and continue to pray for him,” said Prime. “I want him to know God, and his son Jesus Christ, who forgave me of all my sins — and in turn asks me to do the same.”
Prime’s family has forgiven Nelson, he said, addressing Nelson from the court podium: “We ask you to seek forgiveness from the just judge, the Lord God almighty.”
The young people killed were all on their way home to Arkansas after a visit to a Wyoming Bible college. All between the ages of 18 and 23, they were Suzy and Andrea Prime, Salomon Correa, Magdalene “Maggie” Franco and Ava Luplow.
Nelson was reportedly high on drugs when he drove the wrong way on Interstate 80 on Jan. 22, 2023, in a Dodge Ram 3500 truck, causing a series of crashes with other vehicles, including a semitrailer that had to swerve into the lane of a Ford F-150 with the five young people in it.
Those vehicles “immediately became engulfed in flames,” and all five young people in the Ford were killed, the Highway Patrol reported at the time.
The driver of the semi also caught fire and suffered critical injuries, but survived.
This Century
Carbon County District Court Judge Dawnessa Snyder sentenced Nelson to between 98 and 110 years in prison, the maximum sentence available under the law.
She also ordered him to pay $70,928 in restitution, noting nevertheless that he may not be able to, as he’ll only make “nominal” amounts of money for the rest of his life working in prison.
“You are the worst example of these crimes,” said Snyder, referencing Nelson’s criminal history and his showing “little remorse” after the crash. She noted that Nelson is not a parent and so can’t truly comprehend what the grieving parents are experiencing.
“You don’t know what it’s like to stay up late and watch these apps and wonder if your children are OK,” said Snyder, whose voice faltered slightly.
In court, Nelson did voice remorse, apologizing to the families of the young people and saying he should never have gotten behind the wheel.
“I wish I could turn back time, but I can’t,” said Nelson.
‘Hard Time’
The sentence Snyder handed down was more than either the prosecutor’s or defender’s suggestions.
Nelson’s attorney Michael Bennett had argued for a 15-20-year sentence. Nelson has struggled with addiction, suffers from various health conditions and could expect to spend the best of his remaining years of life in prison under that term.
“Fifteen to 20 years is going to be hard time for Mr. Nelson,” said Bennett.
Carbon County Attorney Sarah Chavez Harkins argued for a 75- to 100-year sentence, in accordance with Nelson’s plea agreement.
She pointed to his lack of remorse in the hours after the crash, when he called it a “lesson learned” about not driving impaired, and she pointed to his lengthy criminal history, which includes a 1995 DUI conviction and multiple felonies.
A woman who was driving a tractor-trailer, who burst into flames during the chain-reaction crash but survived, will live with her injuries all her life, said Harkins.
“She told me she remembers burning. Being on fire — plastic pieces of the truck melting onto her face,” said the prosecutor.
Of the families of the young people killed, she said that they “may forgive Mr. Nelson, but they will never forget.”
While On Meth …
While on meth the night of the crash, Nelson collided head-on with an Infiniti SUV in the passing lane next to a FedEx tractor-trailer near Sinclair, Wyoming, court documents say.
Nelson was “on the nod,” relaxed and sleepy, Harkins told the court Tuesday.
The Infiniti rotated into the side of the FedEx truck, whose driver stopped on the interstate’s right shoulder, while the Infiniti skidded to a stop in the driving lane, facing the wrong way.
The Infiniti’s three occupants were later treated for minor injuries and released from the hospital.
Nelson’s truck rotated, tripped and rolled once, wobbling to a stop on the right shoulder of the road, court documents say.
Debris littered the interstate.
The female driver of an MS Freight tractor trailer driving toward the scene shifted from the right lane into the left and ran over a large chunk of debris, causing her truck to bounce so hard her driver’s side front steer tire failed, sending her and her truck hurtling through the median and into the opposite eastbound lanes.
The freight truck smacked into a Ford F-150 pickup containing the five people who were later found dead on scene. The Ford burst into flames: four occupants were burned and one died during or after being ejected from the vehicle, court documents say.
The freight truck, halted in a jackknife position, also caught fire.
Once on scene, Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Corey McCallister rushed to the freight truck with his fire extinguisher and blasted the truck driver’s burning head and truck cab with it.
The truck driver sustained “severe injuries,” reportedly.
Everyone, Everywhere
Sarah Wimberly, the mother of Ava Grace Luplow, also openly forgave Nelson in court during Tuesday’s sentencing.
She also shared some of the horrors that have plagued her for the past year and a half.
“It haunts me … that I could not be there, or share a last goodbye with my firstborn child, to ensure she did not feel alone,” said Wimberly.
She struggles with insomnia and anxiety, and fears leaving home, Wimberly said.
“The rest of the world has become a battleground with evil lurking around every corner, waiting to take its next victim,” said Wimberly. “(Ava Grace) crossed paths with evil.”
Yet, Wimberly continued, “Ava would have wanted everyone, everywhere, to know forgiveness.”
Contact Clair McFarland at clair@cowboystatedaily.com
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
