The woman accused of killing a teenage cyclist in 2023 has been found guilty of vehicular homicide.
Late on the cold, snowy night Friday, the parents of Magnus White stood outside the Boulder courthouse and spoke about the 17-year-old, who was an accomplished cyclist struck from behind by a car.
The verdict in the trial for Yeva Smilianska who struck him from behind after having an all-nighter with a friend, drinking whiskey came down at 10 p.m. Friday, after about seven hours of deliberation.
Jill and Michael White repeated what the prosecution said multiple times during the trial and, ultimately, the jury agreed.
“This verdict acknowledges what we have known all along. Magnus's death was not an accident. It was a crime,” Michael White said after the verdict.
Staying late into the night to reach the unanimous decision, the jury found 24-year-old Smilianska guilty of vehicular homicide, a felony sentence which carries two to six years in prison. Smilianska will be sentenced June 13.
Defense argued for lesser charge
Her defense attorney argued during the week-long trial that Smilianska was guilty — of the traffic misdemeanor of careless driving.
“Very few facts in this case are in dispute,” said defense attorney Timur Kishinevsky in his closing arguments on Friday. “But this was an act of careless driving.”
Previously, Smilianska told officers at the scene and investigators later that her steering had malfunctioned on Highway 119 outside of Boulder and that is why she swerved, hit White without braking and drove into a grassy area off the road. It wasn’t until she was on the stand during the trial that she admitted that she had passed out.
The prosecution, however, said the decisions that Smilianska made, including not sleeping, driving home against the wishes of her friend, wearing AirPods in the car and not pulling over the first time she nodded off behind the wheel, all amounted to a crime.
“A person who looks at their cell phone for just a moment driving 10-15 mph and hits some kid in the crosswalk — that's careless driving resulting in death,” said Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty. “That is not this case. Careless driving doesn't involve someone staying up all night, drinking, washing down prescription meds with whiskey … choosing to get no sleep. Going on the shoulder, passing out from complete exhaustion, and then hitting the kid at 60 mph.”
White's parents say they got 'accountability'
White’s parents spoke, at times in tears, on Friday after the late-night verdict was read.
“We want to begin with Magnus because it was his life that was stolen,” Jill White said of her son. “He dedicated his life, his time to his sport of cycling. When he rode his bike, it was beautiful to watch.”
Michael White spoke after his wife, and his statement was unforgiving, calling out Smilianska for the series of decisions that led to his son’s death.
“She blamed her car's steering. Five months later, talking to investigators at the DA's office, she was still blaming her car. She admitted at the crash scene she was drinking that morning. She lied about how much she drank. She lied about when she drank. She lied to police. She lied to investigators. She has shown no remorse. She has taken no responsibility, not until she had to — on the stand in court 615 days after she killed Magnus,” Michael White said.
He said beyond the verdict, the trial also revealed what he called a “systematic failure” of law enforcement and their investigations. Smilianska told officers at the scene in 2023 that she had been drinking, but was never subjected to a sobriety test and her blood alcohol content was not checked. She was also allowed to retrieve items from her car.
“Mangus deserved a full investigation of the truth. He deserved to have every possibility pursued and discussed, not ignored. And while today's verdict acknowledges a level of recklessness, it can’t undo the consequences of a system that failed to do its job from the start,” Michael White said.
He did thank the Boulder DA’s officer for pursuing charges. Dougherty also spoke Friday after the verdict.
“As I stand here right now, I am just especially grateful that we got the guilty verdict on vehicular homicide that was absolutely the right thing,” Dougherty said. “I think it's really important that we call attention to Magnus and lift him up and to honor his memory, but also to support this family and to let the community know how devastating these cases are.”
Accomplished cyclist
White was considered a rising star in the cycling world at the time of his death. He won the 2021 Junior 17-18 Cyclocross National Championship. He represented the USA Cycling National Team over two full seasons of European Cyclocross racing and at the 2022 and 2023 UCI Cyclocross World Championships.
He had earned a spot on the U.S. Mountain Bike World Championship team and was preparing to compete at the World Mountain Bike World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland when the accident occurred. He died from his injuries wearing a USA National Team kit.
White’s parents through the White Line Foundation have worked to bring awareness to rider safety through legislation on the local, state and federal levels.
Last year, the foundation helped organize the Ride for Magnus: Ride For Your Life event in Boulder. Thousands of cyclists from every state and 20 countries rode from CU Boulder’s campus and past Highway 119, near Gunbarrel, the site where White was struck and back.
Series of what prosecution called bad decisions
The trial that started on Monday revealed that Smilianska stayed up until at least 6 a.m. drinking whiskey and texted her friend that she was “falling asleep” but chose to drive home the morning she struck White from behind on July 29, 2023.
Witnesses testified that Smilianska’s car swerved onto the shoulder on Highway 119 — the Diagonal — at least twice before she hit White.
On the stand through a translator Thursday, Smilianska, the 24-year-old immigrant from Ukraine who was also wearing AirPods listening to a podcast at the time, said she remembers holding the wheel, and then the next thing she recalled was her car hitting a fence off the side of the road. She testified that she has no memory of hitting White.
There was also a dispute that was revealed outside of court on Friday about Smilianska’s residency status. She was described by her attorney as a war immigrant, who fled her home country to escape the violence. Dougherty said on Friday she was a permanent resident starting in 2017 — Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
'Not a DUI case'
Smilianska’s drinking was a point of contention throughout the trial and even played out during the closing arguments — ` case wasn’t tried as driving under the influence.
State attorney Patricia Mittlestadt said “This is not a DUI case” seven times in the half-hour that she spoke.
“Her behavior was reckless because she made decision after decision after decision. Where she could have made different decisions, but she didn't, because she consciously disregarded the substantial risk to get behind the wheel that day,” Mittlestadt said.
However, the defense took the opposite view in closing, accusing the prosecution of not being honest with the jury.
“They said this case is not about alcohol, it's not about intoxication. Really? This case is nothing but about alcohol and intoxication. This whole case is about consumption of alcohol,” said Kishinevsky.
He said it’s easier to find someone guilty if alcohol is involved and, “This is a case about being tired.”
As the snow continued to fall Friday, Michael White ended his address to the media with a plea.
“Please continue to walk with us. Speak Magnus' name. And stand with every family whose loved one was stolen from them by a reckless or careless driver,’ he said .”We will never stop missing our Magnus and we will never stop fighting for him.”
