Drunk driver sentenced for crash that left Dust Devil’s player in wheelchair
A 23-year-old woman will spend two years in prison for a drunken crash that cut short the career of a star Tri-Cities Dust Devils player.
Ashante Sanders-Jackson had a blood-alcohol level of 0.22 — nearly three times the legal limit — when she crashed her Mercedes at the intersection of Van Giesen Street and Thayer Drive on Sept. 5, 2025.
Dust Devils player Rio Foster and Sanders-Jackson’s sister were thrown from the car. Foster suffered a traumatic brain injury that required months of treatment and has left him needing around-the-clock care, court documents said.
“In a single moment, everything we knew and loved about Rio’s life and future was taken from him,” his mother Iris Cleveland said in a statement to the court. “The vibrant, independent person we knew is now facing overwhelming physical and cognitive challenges that no one should ever have to endure.”
Sanders-Jackson previously pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular assault with an aggravating factor of excessive injuries. The charges would have normally carried between a year to a year and two months in prison.
Prosecutors asked for an exceptional sentence of two years in prison. Judge Bronson Brown followed the recommendation.
The other person hurt in the crash, Sanders-Jackson’s sister Chloe asked for leniency for her sister.
“Me knowing my sister Ashante, I know she feels so hurt by the whole situation,” she said in a letter to the judge. “She is not a bad person; she is a very lively, happy type who will help you even if she is struggling.”
Foster’s recovery
The 22-year-old outfield prospect was drafted in the 16th round by the Los Angeles Angels in 2023. He was the Northwest League player of the month in August 2025 and named a spring breakout for the Angels organization. The outfielder started last season with the Dust Devils.
The night of the crash, the Dust Devils were playing the Hillsboro Hops at Gesa Stadium in Pasco, and Foster was credited with leading the team to victory with his hitting.
The crash has left him in a wheelchair and blind. He requires around the clock care.
“Because of the severity of his condition, I was forced to make the unimaginable decision to resign from my job to become Rio’s full-time caregiver,” Cleveland said. “This was not just a career change — it was the loss of stability, independence and normalcy in my life.”
Cleveland said the emotional toll on the family has been indescribable. They have been left grieving the life Foster lost and the one that he should have had.
“Our home is no longer just a place of comfort — it has become a place of continuous care, vigilance and exhaustion,” she said. “There is no break, no relief, no return to what life used to be. Every single day is a reminder of what was lost.”