The cases stem from a September 7, 2023, incident where the defendant was driving on Hwy 121 in Trenton at an unsafe speed, lost control and ran off the road and crashed the vehicle with his three children inside.

Dorothy Ann Wilson, 8, was thrown from the vehicle and later died of her injuries. The other two children, ages 6 and 10, sustained serious injuries but survived the crash.

The investigation revealed that the defendant was intoxicated with a blood alcohol level more than double the legal limit at 0.165, and that he had been driving at approximately 134 miles per hour.

The deceased child victim had not been secured by a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

After the defendant was released from jail on bond, he was required to wear an ankle monitor which recorded that Wilson violated his bond conditions showing he had again been drinking.

In March, 2025, newly elected District Attorney John Skotnik filed a notice of deadly weapon finding which will require the defendant to serve a minimum of 10 years of his 20-year sentence before he is eligible for parole (without this finding he would be eligible at 1⁄4 of his time).

“This was a horrible and extremely avoidable crime against these children. They were taken from their beds and loaded into a car by their intoxicated father who intended to go fight another man,” said First Assistant Nathan Young. “He deserves the maximum sentence; keeping him off the roads makes our county safer.”