ST. GEORGE — The case involving the driver charged in a fatal crash in which two children died has been bound over for trial following recent preliminary hearings.
Eric Bowen Babauta, 36, is facing multiple charges, including DUI, in connection with the fatal crash on North Dixie Drive on Oct. 30, 2023. The sedan Babauta was driving was found crashed into a power pole near 575 North Dixie Drive in St. George — an incident that was reported to emergency dispatch by several witnesses at the scene.
Responders arrived to find the driver trapped inside the vehicle. Two children, ages 4 and 9, already had been removed from the vehicle by witnesses and passersby who reportedly broke the car windows and were performing life-saving measures on the youngsters. Both children were transported to St. George Regional Hospital by ambulance in critical condition where they later died from their injuries.
As a result, Babauta is facing multiple counts, including two second-degree felony counts of negligently operating a vehicle resulting in death, as well as four misdemeanor charges that include two counts of DUI with a minor in the vehicle, one count of violating a protective order and reckless driving, according to charging documents filed with the court at the time of the arrest.
Further details emerge during the preliminary hearing
During the hearing held in 5th District Court on Dec. 18, 2023, and presided over by District Judge Jay Winward, the state was represented by prosecutor Lane Wood, while the defendant was represented by defense attorney Douglas Terry.
The first to take the stand was St. George Police Officer Brian Groves, a 20-year veteran of law enforcement who was hired in St. George after spending 15 years with the Cache County Sheriff’s Office.
Groves said he was working a DUI enforcement operation on Oct. 30, 2023, when he was called out to the scene of the incident. He said he arrived to find a dark passenger car on the east side of Dixie Drive with the hood of the car that appeared to have been driven “straight into a very large steel power pole.”
He also found paramedics performing CPR on two young children, while the driver was pinned in the vehicle by his right knee that was stuck between the steering column and the dashboard.
The officer said it appeared as though the passenger car had crossed into oncoming traffic before veering off the road where it jumped the curb and struck the pole.
The driver, Groves said, “was left of center and I didn’t observe any type of skid marks on the asphalt or the sidewalk,” both of which were areas the vehicle had crossed over. It appeared the Nissan was traveling on a straight roadway and crossed over the median and then crossed multiple travel lanes before veering completely off the roadway before striking the pole head-on.
The driver was also acting aggressively during the 45-minute extrication process, Groves said, to the point the defendant reportedly threatened to kill the firefighters and emergency personnel who were working to free him from the wreckage. Once they were successful, the defendant was transported to the hospital, but during the ride, Groves testified that Babauta attempted to strike one of the paramedics and remained aggressive during transport.
He also said his initial thoughts were the defendant might have suffered a head injury during the crash, which could also have led to aggressive behavior. There were additional signs, however, that led Groves to suspect the defendant was possibly under the influence of some type of stimulant.
At the hospital, Groves said Babauta “asked me multiple times if I thought he was high, or if I thought he had been using,” comments he made “multiple times.” He told the officer he never used around his children, nor would he ever drive around with them “while high” on drugs. A little while later, the suspect said he had been visiting his boys at their home in Ivins and was taking them to a sporting goods store to buy gloves so they could continue to practice their football drills, the officer said.
During cross-examination, Terry asked Groves if he was a drug recognition expert, to which the officer said no since he specialized in alcohol impairment. The attorney also asked why Groves suspected impairment when he arrived on scene Groves said that initially, it was the position of the car, which was facing in the wrong direction, in addition to the lack of any skid marks near the scene.
When Terry asked if a medical condition could have contributed to the crash, the officer said he had recently responded to a serious crash that resulted from a driver who had suffered a medical emergency at the time.
Terry also went over the injuries his client sustained during the crash that left him in the hospital for several days and had left him in a wheelchair and then requiring a walker, which he was still using at the time of his court appearance. Babauta’s head was still shaved from the treatment he received for a head injury that was sustained in the crash — all signs that could explain the driver’s erratic behavior following the incident.
Groves agreed that injuries can create similar reactions in a driver who has been involved in a head-on crash into a pole, which can make it difficult to determine whether it’s impairment or injuries that can cause a driver to act erratically or aggressively, he said.
St. George detective testifies next
St. George Police Detective Cody Painter, a drug recognition expert, said he made his way to the scene after finding out “there were 2 kids in really bad shape.” He and Groves were on the DUI enforcement detail on the day of the crash, Painter said, adding he has specialized training to detect suspected drug impairment and that he was also a member of the department’s accident reconstruction team.
Painter arrived to find that one of the children had already been transported to the hospital, while paramedics were working on the second child who was still in the ambulance.
While surveying the scene, he noticed a number of signs indicating possible impairment, as was mentioned by Groves, he said, including a complete lack of any skid marks or other signs of braking. There were no yaw marks or other indicators to suggest the driver took any evasive maneuvers to avoid the crash.
Painter added that it is common for those involved in a serious crash to show concern for their family members, an aspect they tend to be focused on following such an incident by asking questions and inquiring about their condition, the detective said.
In this case, he said the Babauta never mentioned the children, nor did he ask about their welfare or condition while at the scene. He said this “was outside of anything we typically deal with,” which also heightened suspicions that impairment may have been involved.
At the hospital, the driver was hooked up to monitors indicating that Babauta’s blood pressure was low, which was odd, Painter said, since blood pressure typically goes up following a traumatic crash. He also said when it comes to methamphetamine use, as the individual starts to come down off of the drug it typically causes their blood pressure to drop, as the body works to balance itself.
During this process, Painter said, the pupils are often constricted and the blood pressure is affected — classic signs that Painter said were also present in this case.
The judge then asked about the temporary restraining order, which was part of the suspect’s release agreement following Babauta’s arrest on an unrelated domestic violence incident reported less than two weeks before the crash.
The release agreement prohibited Babauta from returning to the family home or from having any contact with his children or the children’s mother, which Wood said was still in effect until his next court date, which was scheduled in November. This meant the order was active when the fatal collision took place, one in which the defendant violated by having the children in the car.
Painter also said he applied for a search warrant for the driver’s blood and urine, which was then sent to the lab for analysis that later detected 351 nanograms of methamphetamine, along with 95 nanograms of amphetamine, which is often the metabolite or byproduct of the drug as it is processed through the system.
Those results were consistent with what they observed at the scene and also suggested prolonged use of the drug, since the driver showed signs of coming down off of the drug, despite having such a high level of the substance in his system.
Painter said when he asked the attending physicians if the head injury that required 17 staples to close was significant enough to explain the driver’s behavior, they said that Babauta suffered a laceration, but they found no further injury to his head.
The detective also said there were several witnesses working on the children at the scene who told officers the youngest child was in a car seat with a chest harness secured, but the two lap buckles were not. The older child, who was very small for his age, he said, was not secured in a booster, adding that neither child was “properly secured for their size.”
The detective also said that while initial statements indicated the defendant’s car struck the pole at more than 80 mph, the analysis of the Nissan’s computer system revealed the car was traveling at 63 mph when it struck the pole.
During cross, Terry asked if his client consented to the blood and urine draw, which Painter confirmed, adding he obtained the warrant as a safeguard. The detective also said that Babauta was very honest throughout the entire process — to the point that he reiterated to the detective he never used drugs around his children, and said they would not find any drugs in his system.
Painter said that Babauta followed by saying, “But if I have drugs in my system, then take me now,” comments the detective found compelling.
In the end, impairment was confirmed through a number of factors, including the toxicology test, the in-person contact and the motion of the vehicle, the detective said. This was captured on surveillance video from multiple businesses that showed the car heading down a straight road before the driver veers into the oncoming lane and then “floors it over the curb” and then strikes a pole.
Babauta’s attorney then brought up a study conducted in 2017 by the Utah Department of Public Safety found that a positive blood test only indicates the presence of the drug in the person’s system, but not the level of impairment, if any is present.
The question of probable cause
Terry said that without the field sobriety test, which was not administered due to the injuries Babuata sustained, there was not enough evidence to bind his client over for trial, since there was not enough probable cause to support the charges or even the preliminary hearing.
He also said that without a field sobriety test, which could not have been conducted at the time due to his client’s injuries, there was no way to determine if the amount of methamphetamine that was “alleged to have been found in his system would have made him incapable of safely operating a motor vehicle” at the time, Terry said. He closed by saying there was not enough evidence to bind his client over for trial, and he asked the court to consider those factors when determining if there was enough probable cause to proceed.
The judge makes the final call
Winward said when confronted with two competing explanations for what could have led to the crash, he was required to find all reasonable inferences that were favorable to the state during the hearing. In this case, impairment from methamphetamine had to be considered, versus a steering or brake problem or medical issue that could have led to the crash, as the defense suggested.
In the end, the judge said the defendant did have methamphetamine in his system, as well as a number of other indicators of impairment that were noted by two separate officers at the scene and at the hospital. When combined, this provided more than enough evidence to support the charges and ordered the case bound over for trial.
He also said that based on the evidence, the driver deviated from the ordinary standard of care by having any amount of methamphetamine in his system, which in this case was more than 350 nanograms per milliliter overall. Winward described this as a “gross deviation” by any reasonable standard. It was the driver’s impairment that also explained the confusion that officers encountered at the scene and could not be explained by any other means, which also supported the state’s position.
Terry then asked if confinement could be addressed since his client has been in custody since his release from the hospital. He said he was fearful that his client may not be receiving enough medical treatment at the jail, which he said may be “very limited” since his client was in a wheelchair at the time he was booked into jail. During this hearing, Terry said, his client was appearing with the aid of a walker, and lacking proper care, he feared his client could suffer lifelong effects from his injuries.
The attorney went on to say the mother of the two deceased children would also support his client’s release from jail so he could get the medical attention he needs, and he asked the court to release his client on house arrest or other monitoring measures to further those efforts.
Winward denied the request, saying that Babauta “is a danger to society” and said the defendant was in court using a walker, which was provided by the jail. Winward said it was clear Babauta was at least receiving some level of medical care at the jail that was improving his health, as well as providing what he needed to continue improvement.
He then ordered the case to be bound over for trial and also that Babauta would remain in jail until the case was resolved and a review hearing was scheduled in the case.
During that hearing held on Jan. 16, less than a a month later, the defendant appeared without the aid of a walker or a wheelchair as he stood before the judge unaided, as shown in the photos taken by St. George News.
A second review hearing was scheduled for the following week, during which Terry said that neither side was able to come to an agreement in the case and that his client wanted to take the case to trial. The judge then scheduled a five-day jury trial to begin on April 22, with a pretrial conference to take place in March. In the meantime, the defendant remains in custody in Washington County.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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