A judge compared texting and driving to wearing a blindfold Wednesday before sentencing a La Pine man who killed a 16-year-old while driving recklessly last summer to 150 days in jail and 28 months in prison.

“If there is any message to the community, it is: Put your phone away,” said Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Alta Brady, who also revoked Erik Mackenzie Conn’s license for life. “There is nothing more important when you’re driving than driving.”

Conn, 29, was driving a 1996 Dodge pickup westbound on Reed Market Road around 6:55 p.m. on July 25. Forrest Cepeda was riding his bike along the busy road with his friend, Buck Weirup, when Conn slammed on the brakes to avoid the car in front of him and struck Cepeda, pinning him against a low rock wall. Cepeda died at the scene. Search warrants showed Conn was texting two women in the minutes before the crash. One of the women was sitting next to him in the truck.

Conn, originally charged with second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, reckless endangerment and reckless driving, last week pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.

Prosecuting attorney Kandy Gies presented the case to Judge Brady, using diagrams to show where the accident took place.

According to Gies and police reports, the two vehicles in front of Conn’s pickup stopped to allow Cepeda and Weirup to cross Pettigrew Road. Conn slammed on the brakes, which locked, and his pickup spun 180 degrees, slamming into a low rock wall and pinning Forrest against the wall. Cepeda’s friend Buck was able to jump over the rock wall and escape injury.

Initially Conn told police he hadn’t used his cellphone to send text messages during the drive, then admitted he’d texted but pulled over to do so. His phone indicated he’d sent a variety of messages throughout the day, including two text messages, one to the woman sitting beside him in the truck, at 6:53 p.m. The first 911 call came through at 6:55 p.m. Confronted with that information, Gies said, Conn admitted he might have been distracted.

“Part of me says (the phone) had a lot to do with (the accident), and part of me says it doesn’t,” Gies said Conn told police. “The defendant told police that from the moment he turned onto Reed Market to the moment he realized the vehicles had stopped he had not looked up. The only reason he put on the brakes was because his passenger yelled, ‘Brakes.’ ”

And, Gies told the judge, Conn’s vehicle was not in working order, with missing brake pads and a right front tire that wasn’t working properly, causing the pickup truck to swerve right and into Forrest.

While Conn was responsible for the accident, Gies told Brady, he had cooperated with the investigation and had no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the crash.

“It is solely the responsibility of the defendant, and it could have been avoided,” Gies said.

Family, friends speak

Forrest’s family and friends spoke at the sentencing. Many commented on what they considered an unjustly light sentence for killing a child.

Buck Weirup told the judge he thought Conn’s sentence was too short, and that he now hates people who use their cellphones while driving.

“Erik had a choice and he made the wrong decision. His stupid choices changed my life forever,” Buck said. “I lost my best friend.”

Next, Forrest’s mother, Melissa Howiler, and brother, Alex Bach, talked about what kind of a person Forrest was.

Alex called his brother brave.

“He protected me and guided me into becoming the man I am today,” he said through tears.

Melissa Howiler said her son loved history, video games, animals and the outdoors, and was a “gentle giant.”

Finally, Bill and Carolyn Howiler, Forrest’s grandparents, spoke. Forrest lived with his grandparents for six years before he was killed.

“To the world, he was one person. But to one person, he was the world,” Carolyn Howiler told the judge. She spoke of her grandson’s sweet nature and how well he interacted with adults and his little brother.

But mostly she spoke of how frustrated she was by Conn’s plea deal, saying she wished she’d had more of a say in his prison sentence.

“My wish isn’t vengeance. I don’t hate him. I feel sorry for him,” she said. “I just want to send a message to all (the young people) who think they’re still invincible. They don’t understand how quickly you’re gone.”

And she had a message for Conn: “Step up and be a man.”

Bill Howiler, Forrest’s grandfather, expressed concern about Conn’s sentence.

“Is this the message you want to send to the public?” he asked. “You get a slap on the wrist from the judicial system if you kill someone.”

Several asked that Conn’s probation require him to go into schools and speak to children about the dangers of texting while driving.

Attorney blames truck

Conn’s attorney, Jacques DeKalb, told the judge his client was remorseful, but that the main reason for the crash was his poorly maintained vehicle, not texting. DeKalb noted there was no proof Conn was speeding on the 45-mph stretch of Reed Market Road and that the boys were riding their bikes against traffic. Conn’s mistake was “not realizing there was more going on in this intersection.”

“Texting was a distraction, but the cause was the truck’s poor mechanical condition,” DeKalb said. “This was a purely negligent act.”

Conn addressed his family and his victim’s family, apologizing for his negligence.

“I want to apologize to you guys for the literal hell that I’ve created for your family and my own,” he said, looking out into the filled courtroom benches. “There is not one night where I don’t relive the accident.”

Conn spoke of his four daughters, saying he understood what the family was going through, and offered to do the community service the family requested.

“I’d be more than happy to talk to children in schools and tell them this is not something you should be doing,” he said. “I deeply apologize, and you guys have all my sympathy.”

Brady offered her sympathy to the family, then explained how Oregon’s sentencing guidelines placed Conn’s crime squarely in a 27- to 28-month sentencing range.

She then revoked Conn’s driver’s license for life, imposed a 120-day jail sentence – with credit for time served – for recklessly endangering Buck Weirup and a 28-month prison sentence for criminally negligent homicide. The sentences are consecutive, and Conn will not be eligible for alternative programs that would shorten his sentence because he is on probation for previous misdemeanors. He also must pay more than $4,500 in Cepeda’s funeral costs and may have to pay more for the family’s therapy costs.

Conn asked that his 120-day jail sentence, to be served in the Deschutes County Jail, be extended so he could spend time with his four daughters.

Brady extended the jail sentence to 150 days.