An 18-year-old Casper woman is facing up to 20.5 years in prison, on claims she caused her friend’s death by recklessly smashing a Toyota Avalon into two bull elk in Carbon County in July.
Gennavieve Boomer’s case rose to the felony-level in Carbon County District Court this week.
Carbon County Attorney Sarah Chavez Harkins charged Boomer July 30 with one count of aggravated vehicular homicide, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and $10,000 in fines. Boomer also faces one count of reckless driving (up to six months in jail and $750 in fines) and one count of speeding at 101 mph in a 70-mph zone ($145 in fines).
The charges stem from the July 14 death of Sammantha Brooks, 18, who was ejected from the Avalon after it hit two bull elk on Wyoming Highway 487 in Carbon County, according to an evidentiary affidavit by Wyoming Highway Patrol Lt. Caleb Hobbs.
It was around 5 a.m. July 14 when the car struck a bull elk head-on, causing immediate front-end damage. Then the car veered right, skidded onto its passenger side for about 150 feet, struck a turn-off embankment, bent a delineator post backwards and hit a second bull elk with its passenger side, Hobbs concluded from the evidence.
The collision with the second elk caved in the passenger side, bent the side support beam nearly 90 degrees, ripped off the door and sent the car into multiple rolls for several feet. Ultimately the car came to rest on its roof, says the affidavit.
Hobbs first learned of the incident after an iPhone distress call lodged the initial report, indicating that four people were in the car and one was believed dead.
While on the way to the scene, Hobbs asked Trooper Cody Lenke, whom he was training, to respond as well, he wrote.
Hobbs arrived at 5:52 a.m. to find a grey 2004 Toyota Avalon with Wyoming plates, on its roof on the east side of the road – and two dead bull elk.
One of the elk was in the southbound lane, but fire personnel moved it from there before Hobbs arrived, the document says.
Three ambulances were on scene. Emergency medical personnel were treating three patients, and one emergency medical technician performing CPR on a person who looked like she’d been ejected from the car, Hobbs wrote.
Hobbs helped with CPR. Shortly after, the woman who’d been ejected, Sammantha Brooks, was declared deceased, says the affidavit.
Boomer, 18, was driving the car, and Brooks was in the front passenger seat during the collision, while Sammantha’s twin sister Hannah Brooks, 18, was in the rear passenger side seat, says the document.
A fourth 18-year-old, Trinity Day, was in the rear driver’s side passenger seat, added Hobbs.
The four teens were friends. Hobbs wrote that those interviewed all said they’d taken a road trip together from Casper to the Saratoga hot springs.
Two of the five seats had had their seatbelts in use, the car’s internal computer data later reviewed to WHP Lt. Tyler Chapman, the document says.
Hobbs wrote that the evidence indicated the driver, Boomer, had only worn a lap belt with no shoulder strap.
“Ms. Boomer,” he added, “was only partially ejected.”
When the car hit the second elk, it was traveling about 101 mph on the 70-mph highway, the document says, adding, “vehicle occupants also confirmed this speed.”
Had the car been going 70 mph, “it likely would have stopped before striking the second elk,” Hobbs concluded from Chapman’s account of the preliminary crash investigation.
‘Slow Down’
Hannah Brooks told Hobbs that the group had been smoking marijuana while at the Saratoga hot springs when they left that morning at about 4 a.m., and they kept smoking marijuana while driving back to Casper that morning leading up to the crash.
“Hannah Brooks specifically recalled telling the driver, (Boomer), to slow down,” wrote Hobbs.
According to the affidavit, Hannah Brooks recalled telling the other people in the car they should not be smoking marijuana during the drive back to Casper.
Day confirmed the 100 mph speed, says the document.
Lenke found burnt residue and unburnt plant material and a brown grinder with a purple tiki head – containing “residue” — in a pink purse within the vehicle, Hobbs wrote.
“A total of 22 grams of suspected raw marijuana was seized from the scene,” he added.
A helicopter life flight took Hannah Brooks to Banner Health in Casper. Another helicopter took Boomer to the same hospital. A ground ambulance took Day to Banner Health, the document says.
Boomer was too injured for a blood draw on scene, but troopers obtained a warrant for a later blood draw at the hospital, wrote Hobbs, adding in his July account that those results were “pending.”
Investigators also applied for search warrants for the vehicle download and three cellphones found in the car.
Driver’s License
In Day’s interview with Lenke and Hobbs, she said they had all met up at about 8 p.m. July 13 and decided around midnight to go to the hot springs in Saratoga. They arrived around 3 a.m. July 14.
Hannah Brooks was tired and slept in the car’s back seat while the other three teens went into the hot springs, Day recalled.
Sammantha Brooks “had been spoking a lot of marijuana in Casper” and Day and Hannah Brooks had also been smoking, Day said, according to the document.
Because of all that smoking and the fact that Boomer had a driver’s license and neither Hannah Brooks nor Day had one, Boomer drove the others during the trip, says Hobbs’ account of Day’s interview.
On the way to Saratoga, the car had hit several rabbits and small animals on the highway. Near where they hit the bull elk, the vehicle had to dodge what Day thought was a deer or another large animal, as the friends approached Saratoga, the document relates.
They left in the night because Boomer needed to make it to her job by 6 a.m., Day recalled.
Day told investigators she’d asked Boomer to slow down between eight and 15 times.
Hannah Brooks was in the back seat, lying down.
A friend of Boomer’s had taken a screenshot from a Life360 app tracking her, showing a speed of 115 mph near the crash scene, said Day, reportedly.
Sammantha Brooks was not wearing a seatbelt, the document relates.
Day also said, “she had not seen (Boomer) smoke any marijuana or drink any alcohol during their time together,” Hobbs wrote.
Sleeping For Most Of It
Hannah Brooks didn’t remember much of the incident since she’d been sleeping through most of it.
She recalled going to the hot springs, and she corroborated that Boomer had been driving because of Sammantha’s state, the document says.
There had been several animals on the road on the way to Saratoga, Hannah said.
The affidavit says Hannah recalled Day telling Boomer to slow down – and that Hannah couldn’t remember ever seeing Boomer smoke any marijuana.
In Boomer’s interview, she noted that she’d volunteered to drive since Sammantha Brooks “Was extremely high,” and she confirmed seeing rabbits and deer or elk on the way to Saratoga.
“She did not recall if Trinity (Day) had ever asked her to slow down,” wrote Hobbs.
Summarizing statements and other evidence, Hobbs concluded that the car’s average speed from Saratoga to the crash scene was about 90 mph, and that “Defendant would have seen that Sammantha was not wearing a seatbelt.”
The driver was “fatigued” and in a rush to get back to Casper for work, Hobbs added.
Boomer posted a surety bond Aug. 28, court documents say.
Her attorney Ryan Semerad, of Fuller and Semerad LLC, declined Friday to comment.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
