In the wake of a tragedy that leaves seven children without parents to raise them, Matthew Urquidi, the 40-year-old Portage man charged in relation to the death of his live-in fiancee 29-year-old Shandra Crowe, received the maximum allowable sentence of six years in prison and one year of probation Friday afternoon. Crowe, the mother of four children, died from injuries sustained while falling from a moving vehicle on June 9, 2021, while Urquidi’s three children were present.
Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer accepted Urquidi’s plea of Kidnapping Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, a Level 3 Felony, and Possession of a Narcotic Drug, a Level 6 Felony. Court documents show Urquidi was originally charged, on June 10, 2021, with: Criminal confinement where a vehicle is used; domestic battery committed in the presence of a child less than 16 years old; operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person; operating a vehicle with an ACE of .15% or more; operating a vehicle while intoxicated; leaving the scene of an accident driver fails to immediately stop at scene; kidnapping with serious bodily injury; and causing catastrophic injury when operating a motor vehicle with an ACE of .08% or more.
Crowe’s sister sobbed through a lengthy victim impact statement where she talked of everything from her sister’s kindness with such acts as taking milk to a woman who posted on Facebook that she couldn’t afford to buy any, to her love for her four children — ages 11, seven, four, and three at the time of her death. She said the children, who had been together all their lives, have been split up among two sets of grandparents and she had personally spent $18,000 in legal fees in order to maintain some right to see them.
She also said one of the children “gets picked on in school because he doesn’t have a mother.” She said Urquidi sold her sister’s house, drained her bank accounts and continued to draw food stamps intended for Crowe’s children.
“The defendant even took all of Shonda’s and her children’s belongings, inviting his friends into her house to take whatever they wanted,” she said.
Crowe’s oldest daughter spoke surrounded by her three siblings.
“I’ve been hospitalized. I get bullied. I don’t have a mom anymore,” she said of her life since her mother’s death.
Urquidi took the opportunity to make a statement.
“I’ve never felt real, emotional pain with this much intensity in my life,” he said. “I’m completely devastated and my feelings day to day range from sadness to heartbreak to shame and embarrassment.”
In closing statements, Porter County Deputy Prosecutor John Meyers addressed some of the circumstances of Crowe’s death. “He picks her up by both arms and throws her in the car,” he said of circumstances determined by the statements to police of the three children present and two drivers who passed by the altercation on the side of the road. He told the court the autopsy showed bruising on her upper arms.
“Whether she jumped or was pushed, she did so to get away from him,” Meyers said. He added that he’s listened to Urquidi twice in court and he had yet to see him take any responsibility. Meyers also said that Urquidi’s criminal history “leaps off the page at you.”
Urquidi’s defense attorney Adrian Guzman said they acknowledged his criminal past, but that “he did accept responsibility by accepting the plea agreement.” He had asked Clymer to sentence his client to three years probation and one year in the Porter County Jail.
“This building is a courthouse where people come for justice,” Clymer said before handing down the sentence. “I rejected the last plea because I didn’t feel it was justice.” He also spoke of a crime Urquidi allegedly committed while on bond from his court. “That doesn’t sit well with this court,” he said.
He considered that an aggravating factor in his decision, while he also acknowledged a mitigating factor. “Mr. Urquidi did accept responsibility, maybe grudgingly, but he did.”
Clymer granted the state’s move to dismiss non-pled charges and said he would recommend to the Indiana Department of Corrections that Urquidi be placed in the Rehabilitation While Incarcerated Program. If Urquidi completes this program, Clymer said he would be willing to hear a petition for a sentence modification, though didn’t guarantee a modification would be granted.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
