Judge dismisses homicide charge

VERNAL — A judge has dismissed a child abuse homicide charge against an Orem woman in connection with the alcohol-poisoning death of a teenage boy.

Eighth District Judge A. Lynn Payne tossed out the charge against Candice Collard, 24, at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing on Wednesday. Payne said the prosecution hadn't presented any evidence to show that Collard's actions caused the death of Jess Micade Horrocks, 14.

"I don't see any evidence you can put to the jury to show that she caused the boy's death," the judge told deputy Uintah County attorney Greg Lamb. "I don't think the state can meet the factual basis for cause of death."

Defense attorney Craig Snyder presented hospital records showing that Horrocks had a blood-alcohol level of 0.47 — nearly six times the legal limit for impairment in Utah. He argued that Lamb had failed to put anyone on the stand to testify that Horrocks could have survived even if Collard had sought immediate medical attention for him.

According to Wednesday's testimony, Collard was summoned to a Vernal restaurant on April 11 to pick up her boyfriend's nephew and two of the boy's friends. When she arrived, the boys had Horrocks with them. He was extremely intoxicated and unconscious.

The boys, some of whom worked at the restaurant as dishwashers, testified that Horrocks consumed a relatively large quantity of hard liquor in a short period of time in an alleyway behind the restaurant.

"He was chugging it like water," one of the boys said, noting that Horrocks appeared to become intoxicated within 10 minutes and lost consciousness within 20 minutes of consuming the alcohol.

The boys had taken the alcohol from the restaurant owner's office, which they said was always unlocked. That contradicts past information provided to the Deseret News by police and the restaurant owner that the office was locked and that the teens broke in to gain access to the liquor.

The teens said they hid Horrocks inside the owner's office without his knowledge until he closed the restaurant and then met Collard outside when she arrived. One of the boys testified that while they waited for Collard, Horrocks vomited in a cardboard box inside the office. Another said the teen fell out of a chair, landing face-first on the ground.

The boys said they carried Horrocks to Collard's car and loaded him into the back seat. Collard put a seat belt on the boy and then drove all of the boys to the home in Jensen where she was staying with her boyfriend's family.