As we noted in the immediate wake of the incident, Holman was a much-loved young mother of a ten-year-old boy.
But her life was cut short on March 8 of last year, shortly after Westminster police officers received a 911 call about a motor-vehicle theft in progress.
Specifically, an F-350 pickup, a trailer and two off-road vehicles were swiped from a residence on the 8600 block of 86th Circle.
The victim of the theft added that he was following the stolen truck — and he saw that one of the off-road vehicles had fallen from the trailer.
Shortly thereafter, officers eyeballed the truck driving northbound on Wadsworth Parkway and attempted to stop it on the 9400 block.
In response, the driver of the truck crossed the parkway's median and struck a silver SUV traveling south.
Holman, the SUV's driver, died at the scene. The First Judicial District DA's office, the prosecutor in the case, notes that she was only a few miles from her home and was en route to pick up dinner for her family.
The introduction to a GoFundMe page created after her passing begins like so:
Jessica was taken tragically on the evening of March 8, 2016. She leaves behind an amazing 10 year old son. Jessica has impacted many of our lives in ways she will never know. She was a wonderful single mom, daughter, sister and friend. We hope you will help her son and family in this very hard time.The page remains online at this writing. At present, more than $7,800 has been pledged toward a goal of $35,000. Click for more information.
Authorities initially identified Engle, who was arrested at the scene, as a passenger in the truck, while Ignacio Daigle, a nineteen-year-old who fled the scene, was thought to be the driver. The Westminster PD launched an extensive search for Daigle and sent out a coded notification to more than 700 phone lines in the area.
Two days later, on March 10, the WPD issued the following photos of Daigle....
Photos of Ignacio Daigle circulated prior to his capture.
Westminster Police Department
Days later, authorities revealed that Daigle had been arrested on the 8900 block of Hastings Way at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 11 — and his mother and grandmother, Tiffanie and Tina Daigle, were busted, too.
According to the DA's office, the latter pair were quizzed by detectives after the suspect vanished, and "both women denied having any knowledge of where Ignacio was or how to reach him." But the Hastings Way address was grandma Tina's house — and when Ignacio was found there on the 11th, she and Tiffanie, along with other family members, were said to be present.
The women were subsequently accused of being an accessory to leaving the scene of an accident with death — a felony.
In the months that followed, the prosecution of the Daigles continued, with all three of them ultimately earning convictions. Ignacio pleaded guilty to four felonies, including aggravated motor-vehicle theft and vehicular eluding, and was sentenced to nine years in prison this past February. Additionally, Tiffanie was given two years in prison and Tina got two and a half years for trying to shield Ignacio from arrest.
However, the main focus of the case shifted to Engle after investigators concluded that he was actually the person behind the wheel during the police chase and crash.
Engle reportedly had been known to police since the age of twelve, and over time, he'd racked up seven felony convictions, leading to his being charged as a habitual criminal — a designation that can be used as a sentencing enhancer.
That explains why Engle's May conviction on seven separate counts related to Holman's death brought a potential punishment of 156 years behind bars. And while he didn't get the maximum when he was sentenced the following month, he received both a 96-year jolt and an earful from Jefferson County District Court Judge Dennis Hall, who said that rehabilitation in his case was a lost cause. He's likely to spend the rest of his life in jail.
