Two people sentenced Friday for wrong-way fatal DWI crashes in Kansas City area

A Wellington, Missouri, man and Grain Valley woman were sentenced Friday for two separate fatal DWI crashes, according to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.

Colby Byrd, 27, was sentenced to 16 years in prison after a 2021 crash in Independence that killed two and seriously injured two others.

Desiree Smith, 41, received 15 years for killing another driver in 2019 after striking a vehicle on Interstate 70.

According to documents filed in Jackson County Circuit Court, officers with the Independence Police Department responded to Byrd’s crash on Feb. 10, 2021, on Little Blue Parkway near Truman Road.

Byrd was driving a 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe when his southbound vehicle crossed over the median into the northbound lane, striking a 2019 Nissan Sentra head-on. The collision killed the driver and front seat passenger of the Sentra, while the back seat passengers were transported to the hospital with serious, disabling injuries, court documents indicated.

A blood test revealed that Byrd had a blood alcohol level of .362 at the time of the crash. He later admitted to police that he had been drinking for several hours at a bar that evening and had smoked some marijuana.

Bar surveillance footage showed that Byrd had consumed several drinks over the course of four hours — two 20 ounce beers, six double Captain Morgan’s and one single Captain Morgan’s — before getting into his vehicle.

Court records show Byrd had one previous DWI in 2018. Byrd was sentenced after pleading guilty to DWI resulting in the death of two or more and DWI with serious physical injury.

On June 24, 2019, the Missouri Highway Patrol responded to a crash on eastbound I-70 near Adams Dairy Parkway to find Smith’s legs pinned underneath her silver 2011 Cadillac CTS. Troopers discovered a gold 2003 Ford Taurus to the right of the highway, according to court documents.

The driver of the Taurus was dead.

Troopers concluded that Smith’s vehicle was traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes when she struck the victim’s car head-on. A partially consumed bottle of liquor was found on Smith’s front seat.

Smith pleaded guilty to DWI resulting in the death of a non-passenger.