Imprisoned driver who struck and killed Colorado cyclist Magnus White referred to community corrections

A Colorado driver who struck and killed 17-year-old pro cyclist Magnus White and is serving a four-year prison term is being referred to a community corrections program, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections.

Department spokesperson Alondra Gonzalez-Garcia said there's no guarantee Yeva Smilianska's referral will be approved, and she will wind up in a halfway house.  

The move comes five months after Smilianska was sentenced by a Boulder County judge for the 2023 crime.

The development has left the parents of White "furious," according to Natalie Rizk, who is part of the organization, The White Line, which the family started after White's death.

"Not only for what this means for their family, but for what it signals to every victim of road violence in Colorado and across the nation," Rizk said. "They see this as a profound failure of accountability for felony vehicular homicide, a dangerous precedent that puts communities at risk, and a painful reminder that Colorado's legal consequences for killing someone with a car remain shockingly weak."

Smilianska was convicted of reckless vehicular homicide in April. Her SUV struck White, who later died, while he was riding on the paved shoulder of Highway 119 between Boulder and Longmont. Her car then continued off the road and down an embankment. She said during her trial that she had fallen asleep behind the wheel before the crash happened.