Elderly driver won't face charges in deaths of 2

The Salt Lake District Attorney's Office has declined to file felony criminal charges against an 86-year-old man police say ran over and killed a father and his 5-year-old daughter in May.

The DA's Office had been considering whether to charge the elderly man with negligent homicide. But under the law, the legal standard for being criminally negligent was not met in this case, said Deputy District Attorney Bob Stott.

"You have to have something more than just the accident itself," he said. "There was no indication he wasn't paying attention."

Don Ostler, 29, was walking his daughter, Gwyndalyn, to afternoon kindergarten at Twin Peaks Elementary School. The two were walking hand-in-hand in a crosswalk just a couple of blocks from the school on 1300 East near 5300 South when they were both struck and killed by an elderly driver.

Investigators did not find any indication the driver was going above the 35 mph speed limit, that drugs or alcohol were a factor or that the driver was distracted.

For whatever reason, Stott said it appeared the elderly driver simply didn't see the pedestrians.

"To get negligent homicide (charges filed) in a traffic situation you have to have something like reckless driving, driving through a stop sign or speeding," Stott said. "None of those factors was here."

The case will now be handed over to the Murray city attorney's office where other minor charges, such as traffic violations, will be considered. Murray police have not released the driver's name.