The driver who struck and killed 7-year-old Cadence Boyer while she was trick-or-treating Halloween night 2014 in east Vancouver was resentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison — about 1½ years less than his original sentence.
A state Supreme Court decision in February 2021 to decriminalize simple drug possession triggered the resentencing of Duane C. Abbott.
Abbott, now 54, had a prior drug possession conviction that impacted his offender score for his original sentencing in 2015. With the State v. Blake ruling, his prior drug conviction was vacated, so it no longer counted toward his criminal history in this case.
His potential sentencing range was reduced from 13¼ to 17½ years to 12 to 16 years in prison.
Abbott, of Vancouver, was driving under the influence of marijuana and methamphetamine when his 1967 Ford Mustang struck Cadence; her mother, Annie Boyer; Chelina Alsteen, then 30; and Ava Carrodus, then 6, while they were walking on a sidewalk along Northeast 112th Avenue.
He pleaded guilty in November 2015 in Clark County Superior Court to one count of vehicular homicide and three counts of vehicular assault.
All four victims were rushed to hospitals after the crash.
Ava was treated and released about a week later. Cadence was placed on life support at Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland, where she died two days later. Annie Boyer suffered a crushed pelvis and broken shoulder, arm and vertebra. Alsteen suffered a traumatic brain injury and several broken bones, including a broken spine and leg, and was treated at Vibra Specialty Hospital of Portland for several months.
According to court records, Abbott told police he was changing lanes when he lost control of his Mustang and drove onto the sidewalk, striking the victims and a utility pole at about 8:20 p.m. He later told police he smoked 2 to 3 grams of marijuana daily and that he had smoked his last joint three hours before the crash.
‘Opening up wounds’
Cadence’s grandfather, Kevin Boyer Sr., told the court Wednesday that with the change in the law, he’s lost faith in the criminal justice system.
He doesn’t believe the Blake decision should apply retroactively and said the state Supreme Court doesn’t “realize they’re opening up wounds on all these families.”
He understands that Abbott has constitutional rights, he said, but added that he shouldn’t, saying, “My granddaughter doesn’t have any.”
“You didn’t just take my granddaughter’s life, you took her dad’s life, her mom’s life, my life,” Cathy Boyer, Cadence’s grandmother, told Abbott, who appeared via Zoom. She held a photo of Cadence with her parents as she spoke.
As at Abbott’s original sentencing, the prosecution asked for a high-end sentence, this time of 194 months. The defense argued that Abbott has been rehabilitated while in prison and asked for a low-end sentence of 146 months.
“The man here today is not the same man from seven years ago,” defense attorney Steve Thayer said.
His comments about Abbott’s progress while incarcerated elicited chuckles of disbelief and head-shaking from those in the gallery.
“I’m sorry this all happened. I think about it every day. … It truly was an accident,” Abbott told the court, adding that he’s worked hard to make something of his time in prison. Department of Corrections records show he is incarcerated at the Monroe Correctional Complex.
Judge Robert Lewis acknowledged the families’ pain and said he, too, would be overcome with emotion if it were any of his grandchildren. He added there’s nothing he can do to change their loss, nor is there anything Abbott can say or do to change it.
In keeping Abbott’s new sentence proportional to his original, Lewis ordered him to serve 180 months.
After the hearing, Cathy Boyer said shaving off the 20 months from Abbott’s original sentence wasn’t right.
“I know he’s still going to have another seven to eight years; she’d be 21 years old,” Cathy Boyer said of Cadence. “I think of her every day.”
