This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s office has released new information about the multi-vehicle crash on I-25 near Centennial that resulted in the death of Democratic State Sen. Faith Winter.
The full report on what happened is not yet available because the details are still under investigation, but the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s office said on Monday that there were two separate crashes that evening that occurred in close proximity to each other.
“The first collision involved two vehicles, while the second involved three. This initially created confusion that it was a five-vehicle crash, when in fact, there were two separate collisions,” according to a press release.
Winter was involved in the second collision, involving three vehicles.
Arapahoe County sheriff’s officials said investigators are currently conducting a full accident reconstruction, which the sheriff’s office said is standard practice for any crash of this severity and is a detailed and complex investigation.
“Investigators are actively interviewing drivers, passengers, and witnesses, and the analysis may take several weeks or longer to determine how and why the crash occurred.”
Winter, who lived in Broomfield, was driving northbound on I-25 the night of Nov. 25th when she was killed. She was set to serve in her final year in the state legislature. During her time at the Capitol, first in the House and then in the Senate, she was a strong environmentalist and advocate for transit. She led the way on efforts to improve the Capitol’s workplace culture and was the first to speak out on allegations of workplace harassment, which led to policy changes.
Winter was the mother of two children and engaged to be married to former Democratic State Rep. Matt Gray.
