Young driver sentenced for killing woman. Her brother begged her not to go with him

Bryanna Campbell was just beginning to make plans for the rest of her life.

The 21-year-old had finished a pre-vet program at the Tri-Tech Skills Center and was starting barrel racing when she died after being thrown from a pickup truck on a rural road southeast of Kennewick.

The driver Jacob Reed was speeding after drinking at a bonfire party in February 2022 and lost control.

“It’s always on my mind,” Reed, now 23, admitted in Benton County Superior Court recently in front of nearly 20 of Campbell’s relatives and friends. “It never fades.”

Reed pleaded guilty to the reckless driving vehicular homicide and apologized for Campbell’s death.

Her family, in a series of emotional statements to Judge Norma Rodriguez, described the painful loss of a young woman they described as a “beautiful soul.”

Campbell, who’d lived in Finley almost her entire life, was a River View High grad and was working at Grigg’s Department Store in Pasco.

Her mother Kristy Finley spoke about the loss of her daughter’s laughter that used to fill their house and of her son’s trauma of seeing his sister’s fatal crash.

“He had to come and tell me that his sister and her friend were in an accident that night,” she said. “He will never be the same. I not only lost one child, I lost two children.”

Another family member said she hoped Reed would remember Campbell any time he has a major life event.

“You’re going to have that life that you took from her and she is never ever going to have any of that,” said the woman. “I just hope that you did learn a lesson. I want you to suffer because you don’t deserve to live a free and happy life.”

Reed responded during the hearing that he doesn’t need a special occasion to remember Campbell.

He remembers her every day, and all he can say is that he’s sorry despite knowing that is not adequate.

Longer vehicular homicide sentence

Reed accepted a higher than normal sentence for the crime he pleaded guilty to.

Killing someone by driving recklessly normally carries a lighter sentence than a vehicular homicide death involving drunk driving.

Prosecutors explained that Reed was drinking at the party, but a blood test found he had a negligible amount of cocaine and a blood-alcohol level of 0.024% when it was measured. The legal limit for drunk driving is 0.08%.

Also, the truck’s computer didn’t track how fast Reed was going before he lost control.

Prosecutors concluded that a jury could have trouble with a verdict, so they agreed to offer reducing the charge in exchange for a longer sentence.

Reed faced up to one year and eight months in prison for the reckless driving vehicular homicide.

But Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Clark and defense attorney Brian Roach reached an agreement that Reed would serve slightly over four years in prison.

Roach said his client has wanted to plead guilty since being released from the hospital.

“We feel awful for what happened,” said Brian Roach. “We tried to approach this with honesty, responsibility and accountability.”

Judge Rodriguez followed the recommendation, saying she felt that Reed was remorseful.

“I want to thank the family for sharing about your beautiful (family member),” she said. “No time can make up for the time you lost. I’m sorry that you don’t have laughter in your house. I hope that someday that will return and that your hearts will heal.”

2022 Hover Park party

Reed, Campbell and others were at a party at Hover Park on Feb. 12, 2022, when some of them decided to go to a late-night restaurant in Kennewick.

Campbell and Ryan Molina-Jaimes climbed into Reed’s pickup. Campbell’s brother begged her to wait, according to family members.

She believed it was safe. Her brother was in a vehicle behind her as they drove away.

Reed, who was 20 at the time, waited for a train to pass in front of the park entrance before he “went pedal to the floor,” according to court documents.

He lost control on a curve, the tires went off the road and he overcorrected, rolling the truck several times. No one in the truck was wearing a seat belt, said investigators.

Campbell was thrown out, and bystanders weren’t able save her.

Molina-Jaimes was not seriously hurt and crawled out the broken windshield.

Reed was found “lying partially outside the driver’s side window — slumped over and yelling for help,” court documents said.

He was critically injured and taken to the hospital, where a blood sample was taken for testing before he was sent to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Witnesses reported seeing Reed drink two beers before driving, and he smelled of alcohol after the crash, said officials.

This story was originally published September 28, 2024 at 5:00 AM.