DC man sentenced for fatal wrong-way crash in Burtonsville

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) -- A D.C. man will serve seven years in prison for a fatal crash that took place in Burtonsville in 2025. According to the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office (SAO), early in the morning of Aug. 6, 2025, 30-year-old Jose Badell-Uzcategui of Washington, D.C., was driving his car at high speeds the wrong way on Sandy Spring Road near McKnew Road. One motorist tried to flash their headlights and honk their horn at him, but he kept driving, eventually hitting a lawfully driving car. Jazz Andrew Taylor, 30, of Columbia, Md., was in the other car. Despite all life-saving efforts, he died there. The Montgomery County Department of Police collected a sample from Badell-Uzcategui at 4:45 a.m., around one and a half hours after the crash, that tested to 0.182 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. The legal limit is 0.08 grams. In addition to his high blood alcohol content, Badell-Uzcategui was driving between 65 and 68 miles per hour at the time of the crash. "This is above the posted 45-MPH speed limit (which is arguably 0 MPH for a vehicle traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes)," the SAO said. Badell-Uzcategui pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter by motor vehicle in January of 2026. A judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison, suspending all but seven years to be served. After his prison term, Badell-Uzcategui will have to serve five years of supervised probation.