Sidney Whitmarsh, accused of hit-and-run death, heads to district court Nov. 27
Edwards resident accused of killing Mario Romero, tampering with his body in a hit and run crash in January
Edwards resident Sidney Whitmarsh appeared before Judge Inga Causey in a preliminary hearing Thursday for an alleged hit-and-run accident that caused the death of Mario Romero during the early morning hours of Jan. 7.
After hearing more than two hours of testimony from Colorado State Patrol Trooper Colin Remillard, Causey ruled that there was probable cause for Whitmarsh to stand trial for the alleged crimes of vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of an accident, tampering with physical evidence, conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence, tampering with deceased human body and conspiracy to commit tampering with a deceased human body.
Whitmarsh turned down a plea deal in September.
Remillard, on Thursday, detailed what he believed to have happened the morning of Jan. 7 based on his investigation, saying he was called in after a body had been located on Jan. 9 just west of the Edwards roundabout near Highway 6.
Remillard said the body was that of Romero, and it had been located 22 feet away from where he believed the point of impact was. Remillard said he found vehicle debris near the highway, including a fog light that contained a part number from a 2010-2012 Subaru Legacy Outback.
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After issuing a press release describing the vehicle, Remillard said he received a tip that Whitmarsh drove such a vehicle and had not been seen since the crash occurred. He said he then obtained Whitmarsh’s address and found the vehicle located in her garage, and the bumper of the vehicle was in the back seat of the car.
Based on his experience, Remillard said he would have expected to find the victim near the point of impact, not 22 feet from the roadway.
Remillard said he was eventually able to locate Whitmarsh in Arkansas and obtain her cell phone, which contained text messages indicating a substantial level of intoxication on her part.
Other texts indicated that other people, including Whitmarsh’s mother, Stephanie Whitmarsh, her father, Cean Whitmarsh, and her friend, Jaime Ledezma, were aware that the crime had occurred, Remillard said.
After hearing the testimony, Causey said she believed there was enough probable cause to show that Whitmarsh should stand trial for the alleged crimes.
“All of the evidence surrounding the incident indicate the same thing … Ms. Whitmarsh was aware that the body was moved, or she moved it,” Causey said. “She was aware that an accident had occurred, and she hid the evidence. She hid it in her car, she hid it in her garage, she talked about it to others, she didn’t go to law enforcement, it all points in the same direction.”
Causey said no one can be certain if Romero died on impact, or was alive for a time following the crash.
“I don’t know if his life could have been saved, but nobody cared to do anything about it,” Causey said. “The only thing that was occurring was an attempt to cover up what had been done.”
Causey described the alleged crash as a mistake that was made into a horrific incident due to Whitmarsh’s actions.
“This whole case is sad all around, there’s no doubt about that, it’s sad for everyone involved,” Causey said. “I’m sure, Ms. Whitmarsh, if you could take back that day, that you would. But nobody can go back to that moment of impact, because nobody knows now if you had made one phone call — 911 — whether Mr. Romero would be with us today.”
Causey concluded the hearing by a district court appearance with Judge Rachel Olguin-Fresquez for Nov. 27.
This story was edited to reflect that Whitmarsh has a district court appearance scheduled for Nov. 27.
