Woman pleads guilty to vehicular homicide in fatal crash

CORTEZ, Colo. (KREX) - A woman pleaded guilty on Friday to vehicular homicide – DUI in connection with a crash on March 24. The collision at Hawkins Street and East Main Street resulted in the death of motorcyclist Michael Burnison. Shandine John's plea agreement includes a sentencing cap of ten years in the Colorado Department of Corrections. Shandine John was arrested after the crash and transported to the Montezuma County Jail. She was originally charged with multiple offenses, including vehicular homicide, careless driving causing death, DUI, DUI per se and driving while license revoked under express consent. Authorities had received a REDDI (Report Every Drunk Driver Immediately) report involving a black Dodge Ram 1500 just one minute prior to the accident, with callers reporting its occupants were intoxicated after leaving a local Dairy Queen. Officers responded to multiple 911 calls reporting the vehicle-versus-motorcycle crash, finding Burnison on the ground with CPR in progress. Burnison later passed away from his injuries. John has remained in the Montezuma County Jail since her arrest, with bond initially set at $200,000 cash/surety. The driver's blood-alcohol level was reportedly three times the legal limit. Following her plea, John will be held without bail and will be screened for Community Corrections. John's sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 18. All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WesternSlopeNow.com. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WesternSlopeNow.com staff before being published.