Father requests leniency for man who killed son in wreck after bad marijuana deal
A 19-year-old drug dealer who caused a deadly crash while running down a customer stealing marijuana has been sentenced eight years, eight months in prison, despite a plea from the victim’s father for less time.
“Ninety-five months is more than enough. … I really would not like to see another life lost in all of this,” Rajon Powell wrote in a chat box while he watched Alejandro Cruz’s sentencing hearing live-streamed on YouTube as it took place in a Sedgwick County courtroom earlier this week. His son, 19-year-old Elias Powell, died from injuries he received in the June 27 car chase and wreck that also hurt two other men with him.
According to court records, Cruz started pursuing the men’s car after one of them bolted with a bag of marijuana without paying. Cruz had set up the drug deal in the Walmart parking lot at 53rd and Meridian using his minor girlfriend’s cellphone.
When Cruz caught up to the men’s car, he rammed into it and pushed it into oncoming traffic. The men’s car hit another vehicle head-on with such force that it tore the car in half. Powell suffered a fatal brain injury, internal injuries and spinal fractures and died at a Wichita hospital. The other men’s injuries included a brain bleed, cuts and spinal fractures. Two of the men were thrown from the car when the crash happened and the other was pinned inside.
After the crash, Cruz hid another bag of marijuana and two vape pen cartridges in a McDonald’s cup and dropped it in a field, hoping law enforcement wouldn’t find it and connect the case to the drug deal. Court records say Cruz ultimately told authorities he drove “recklessly” during the chase because he “was only caring about getting his money or his drugs back.” He was 18 at the time.
Judge Kevin O’Connor read Rajon Powell’s comment aloud in court before handing down a 104-month sentence — longer than the 95 months Cruz’s lawyer asked for but shorter than the 10-year term the prosecutor had recommended.
The question came down to whether Cruz should serve sentences for each conviction in the case at the same time or back-to-back. Cruz pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated battery and marijuana possession with the intent to distribute on Nov. 12 following extensive negotiations between the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office and his lawyer. The state dropped three of Cruz’s original charges in exchange for the plea.
Prosecutor Aaron Breitenbach described the charges as “very severe for good reason” and urged the judge to send Cruz to prison for 10 years. That term was fair, he said, because it “strikes the right balance with what he did.”
Defense attorney Chris O‘Hara argued for the 95-month sentence, or just under eight years, saying Cruz didn’t intend to hurt anyone and saved the court and victim’s family time by pleading guilty. He said Cruz had turned to drug dealing to supplement his McDonald’s paycheck after he moved out of his mother’s house following an argument about grounding him.
Cruz was “basically living in his car” and reacted “impulsively and instantly” when his marijuana was stolen, he said.
“He’s learned from this already and I think he’s very sad and … upset that he’s put other people in this situation,” O’Hara said.
When it was his turn to speak, Cruz apologized.
“I would just like to say that I am sorry. ... I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
In the end, O’Connor didn’t think either lawyer’s recommendation fit. On Monday, he ordered Cruz to serve the terms for manslaughter and the battery crimes consecutively, saying the time Cruz spends in prison should account for each person hurt or killed.
Cruz will serve the sentence for the drug conviction concurrently to those.
The crash was a “truly tragic” result of choices made that day, not “a youngster’s mistake,” O’Connor said in court.
“Making another decision throughout the process would have resulted in someone not being killed that day,” he said.
“But for the grace of God, we only had one individual that lost his life in all of this. It could have been more.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2020 at 1:20 PM.
