Man receives 16-year-sentence for crash that killed family

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) – A Porcupine man convicted in a drunken driving crash that killed a family on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Tyler Makes Him First had earlier pleaded guilty to three involuntary manslaughter charges for the 2017 crash that killed 42-year-old Waylon Red Elk Sr.; his pregnant wife, 34-year-old Jaylene Pretends Eagle; and their son, 1-year-old Waylon Red Elk Jr.

Makes Him First was originally scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 4 but the hearing was postponed and he was sent to jail after he tested positive for marijuana.

The defendant, a corrections officer, had a blood alcohol content of .28, more than three times the legal limit when his pickup crossed the center line and struck the family’s car.

AP-WF-02-04-19 1312GMT