Altoona driver gets 5-10 years in DUI death

Detwiler takes plea in accident that killed AAHS student

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- The city man who caused the death of 17-year-old Lundyn Treese by crashing a truck while driving under the influence was sentenced Friday afternoon to the statutory maximum of five to 10 years' incarceration.

Family and friends of Treese, some sporting light blue t-shirts in her honor, filled the Blair County courtroom to hear Jared Paul Detwiler, 21, enter guilty pleas to all charges against him. Detwiler

was facing felony counts of homicide by vehicle, homicide by vehicle while DUI and aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, as well as two misdemeanor counts each of DUI and recklessly endangering another person.

Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks began the proceedings by telling presiding Senior Judge Timothy M. Sullivan the details of the negotiated plea. He said the felony counts of homicide by vehicle and aggravated assault by vehicle, along with the misdemeanor counts of DUI and one of the recklessly endangering misdemeanors factually merged with the felony count of homicide by vehicle while DUI and would not require an additional sentence. He asked Sullivan to impose a sentence of two years' probation to run consecutively with the five to 10 years' incarceration at the remaining misdemeanor count of recklessly endangering.

First Assistant Public Defender John Siford said Detwiler was accepting the plea as "this case is coming up on two years old."

Before accepting Detwiler's plea, Sullivan allowed Weeks to ask Detwiler a series of questions. When asked if he was incapable of operating a vehicle due to intoxication and if his subsequent decision to do so resulted in the death of Treese, Detwiler said yes.

Sullivan then heard a number of victim impact statements from Treese's friends and family. Alecea Wisor, Treese's cousin, was the first to speak and told Detwiler that "thanks to you, I got to live my worst nightmare."

"I got robbed of my senior year with my best friend," Wisor said through tears. "I go through every second with grief."

Treese's sister Irelynn Treese told Detwiler that he wouldn't be let into heaven.

"Every time you close your eyes, I hope you are haunted by her cold, lifeless body," Irelynn Treese said. "I hate you with my full heart."

Lundyn Treese's father Justin Treese said "the pain and anger I feel every single day is unbearable."

He reminded Detwiler that he had warned him to not drink with his daughter in the car and questioned why "you did not take me seriously."

"I made a promise to protect my family and you made me break that promise," Justin Treese said. "I thank God the law got to you first because otherwise I would not be standing here right now."

Justin Treese remained at the podium alongside his wife and Lundyn Treese's mother, Angela Treese, while she gave her statement. She spoke at length of the pain and suffering Detwiler caused her family and Lundyn Treese's friends and detailed the hours before being notified of her daughter's death. She said she would "give anything for one more stomp up the stairs, for one more argument."

"You didn't just take Lundyn's life that night; you took mine," Angela Treese said. "You woke up alive; I woke up without a daughter."

Following the impact statements, Siford asked Sullivan to hear a statement from Detwiler's aunt Amber Parisi.

Parisi read a letter she and her family wrote, which first acknowledged the pain caused by Detwiler. She said Detwiler had spent "a lot of time" in custody to think about his actions.

"His family will continue to love and support him, but we will also hold him accountable," Parisi said. "(Detwiler) was a young man when his life was changed forever, and he still has a long life ahead of him."

Siford then told Sullivan that Detwiler had been imprisoned since his arrest on Dec. 3, 2024, in lieu of $100,000 bail.

"I've seen a difference in him from the time I first met him to now," Siford said. "I do believe he feels remorse."

When given the opportunity to address the court, Detwiler remained silent.

In addition to the five to 10 years' incarceration and two years' probation, Sullivan ordered Detwiler to pay $700 in fines, pay Treese's family $24,116 in restitution for her headstone and undergo drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations and treatment.

Before adjourning the hearing, Sullivan addressed Treese's parents, saying they had lived "every parent's worst nightmare."

He told them there was "no such thing as closure" in a situation like theirs, but to focus on Treese's life and "wonderful attributes."

"She sounds like a wonderful young lady," Sullivan said.

The charges were filed against Detwiler after he drove a truck in the far left lane of the 10th Avenue expressway in the early morning hours of Oct. 27, 2024 and swerved across two lanes and struck a shrub, tree, a post and four vehicles in a parking lot. Detwiler and Treese, who was in the passenger seat, were ejected, and Treese was killed. A 17-year-old passenger in the back seat climbed out of the truck unhurt, according to the report.

Following the wreck, officers reported Detwiler was sitting in a grassy area, smelling of alcohol, slurring his speech and claiming he'd swerved to avoid a car that had cut him off.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, a subsequent examination of security footage from a nearby tower showed that "at no point did any vehicle swerve in front of (Detwiler)."

Blood tests showed that Detwiler's blood alcohol was 0.218%, 2.7 times higher than the 0.08% legal limit in Pennsylvania for drivers over 21, and that he had a metabolite of cocaine in his system, according to information in the affidavit. The blood alcohol limit for drivers under 21 in Pennsylvania is 0.02%.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.