A Johnson County judge sentenced Isaiah Sadowski to 10 years and three months in state prison Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, for killing 75-year-old Barbara Patterson in a high-speed DUI crash in December 2021.

The 123-month sentence is the maximum allowed for reckless second-degree murder under Kansas law. Johnson County District Court Judge Thomas Kelly Ryan imposed it after a five-hour hearing that included victim impact statements from Patterson's family, according to the Johnson County Post.

A Johnson County jury unanimously convicted Sadowski in June after two and a half hours of deliberations.

The crash

Patterson was driving west on 127th Street through the intersection at Quivira Road in Overland Park on the night of Dec. 27, 2021. Sadowski's red Chevrolet Camaro ran a red light heading south on Quivira and struck her silver Nissan Versa.

Patterson was pronounced dead at the scene.

Traffic camera footage showed the light had been red for 12 seconds when Sadowski entered the intersection, the Johnson County Post reported. Police and crash reconstruction experts determined he had been driving over 100 mph on Quivira, where the posted limit is 45 mph. Court records cited by FOX 4 show Sadowski was traveling 118 mph five seconds before impact.

Even with what investigators described as "extreme hard braking," data from the Camaro showed Sadowski was traveling nearly 74 mph a half second before impact and 63 mph at the moment of collision.

Sadowski was 20 at the time. His blood-alcohol level measured 0.13 about two hours after the crash. The legal limit in Kansas is 0.08 for adults and 0.02 for anyone under 21. An acquaintance told officers Sadowski had been using Snapchat while driving and was holding two bottles of liquor, according to documents obtained by FOX 4.

Flight to Mexico

Sadowski was first charged in February 2022. His bond was originally set at $250,000 but was later lowered to $150,000, at which point he posted it, KSHB reported.

With his trial approaching in March 2024, Sadowski fled the country. He spent roughly 520 days on the run before U.S. Marshals and Mexican law enforcement arrested him in Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico, in August 2025.

After his return, Sadowski was booked into the Johnson County jail on Sept. 5, 2025, with bond set at $15 million on the murder charge and $100 million for aggravated failure to appear, according to booking records cited by Hoodline.

Family speaks

Patterson was a longtime former employee of Shawnee Mission Medical Center. Her son, Michael Pence, told the court he has been without his mother for 1,724 days.

"I was really gearing myself up to come sit and go through the trial in March of 2024, but when I showed up, he didn't," Pence said. "He took advantage and ran to Mexico."

Patterson's brother, Lou Holsapple, told the court she had been on her way home from a family gathering the night of the crash and did not drive on the highway.

What's next

Judge Ryan denied all defense requests for a new trial. Sadowski will receive credit for 407 days already served and must register as a violent offender for 15 years.

His defense team filed a notice of appeal at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 16, about one hour into the sentencing hearing. No appellate hearing date has been set.