Sentencing of Barnsdall man who pled guilty to fatal DUI crash delayed; victim's family frustrated

A Barnsdall family is frustrated after the man who pleaded guilty in the DUI crash that killed a 15-year-old boy won’t be sentenced for at least another week.

Weston Lowe was set to be sentenced to prison on Tuesday after months of court delays, for the crash that killed Tyson Townley in May of 2024.

WHAT HAPPENED

Investigators say Lowe was driving drunk when he crashed his car in Barnsdall in May 2024. The crash killed 15-year-old Tyson Townley and sent his own daughter to the hospital in critical condition. Troopers say they found Lowe in a field nearly a mile away from the scene.

Lowe took a plea deal last month to serve 20 years in prison, with the possibility of being released in as little as five.

The sentencing was supposed to happen Tuesday in Osage County, but the judge said Lowe’s attorney went home sick from a courthouse in a different county.

The case has been delayed before because the judge was sick and a snowstorm closed the courthouse.

Lowe’s attorney confirms he is sick and says he apologizes to everyone for this delay.

TOWNLEY’S FAMILY’S RESPONSE

It’s been a year of court appearances for Townley’s family and friends, who say they are frustrated it is taking so long.

"He's going to have to pay the consequences for his choice,” said Stacey Harris, Townley’s mother. “Just making it go longer and longer is doing nothing but hurting our family. And it's prolonging the inevitable. He has to go behind bars, for hopefully longer than five years."

Harris says once Lowe gets sentenced, the family isn’t done fighting for justice.

"I just want the justice to start,” said Harris. “We're not done after this. When he takes the plea deal and he goes behind bars, we're not done fighting for justice. A five-year judicial review is not, we're not okay with that. We're not done fighting."

WHAT’S NEXT

The next date for the sentencing is set for next week, and the family hopes it finally goes as scheduled.

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