A coroner’s autopsy report found that a Democratic Colorado state senator had a blood alcohol content twice the legal limit at the time of her death in a fatal car crash.
Democratic Colorado State Sen. Faith Winter, 45, died at the scene of the car crash on the night of Nov. 26. An investigation was announced in the aftermath, the results of which have begun to emerge. An Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office report on her death, obtained by Denver7 and 9News, found that her BAC was .185%, more than twice Colorado’s legal limit of .08%.
She was thereby ruled at fault in the two-vehicle crash that ended her life.
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Authorities found that the crash resulting in Winter’s death was one of two related crashes. The first three-car crash, at roughly 6:05 p.m., saw a Honda Civic collide with a Hyundai Tucson and a Toyota Highlander. A Ford F-350 truck then stopped in the left lane of traffic, at which point Winter’s Hyundai Ioniq 5 rear-ended it.
Winter’s cause of death was listed as multiple blunt force injuries from the crash. She was the only one in the car at the time of her death.
The driver of the Ford F-350 was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Winter, who served 11 years in the Colorado House and Senate, was known for her struggles with alcohol abuse. She received reprimands for showing up drunk at several official meetings and fell down multiple times in the Colorado state Capitol, incidents believed to have been connected to her alcohol use.
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A Senate ethics committee ruled last year that she had violated Senate ethics rules when she showed up drunk to a public meeting. She apologized for her alcohol-related problems in January.
She is survived by her two children and was engaged to be married to former Rep. Matt Gray.
