Parolee rated low risk caused fatal Douglas County crash, 9NEWS says

A week before Walter Huling III died after a stolen Toyota Matrix slammed into oncoming traffic on Colorado Highway 83 near Franktown, a Colorado parole officer had rated him “low risk” to reoffend, even as records show he was relapsing and using cocaine. The lower label mattered because it cut supervision to fewer face-to-face check-ins and fewer drug screens, and the assessment was later tied to at least three errors.

The crash on Nov. 24, 2025, killed Huling, 31, of Denver, along with Alvin Corado, 35, and Corado’s children MaKenlee Corado, 11, Toretto Corado, 8, and Jase Green, 12. Two other children in the Corado vehicle were airlifted with life-threatening injuries, and state troopers later clarified that a third vehicle initially mentioned was not involved.

Huling had been released to parole in September 2023 after serving about four years of a six-year sentence for felony assault. His parole records reportedly showed missed meetings, missed drug screens, a failed drug screen, marijuana use and later cocaine use. In April 2024 he was rated moderate on the Community Supervision Tool, then later lowered to low risk. The Colorado Department of Corrections says that tool is supposed to be reviewed at least every six months and is meant to guide supervision intensity and case planning.

The Douglas County case now sits inside a broader state reckoning over whether parole labels match reality. A state review of roughly 8,000 parolees found nearly 98% of a sample of 45 assessments contained errors. Gov. Jared Polis called the mistakes “inexcusable,” and the department later said it would stop supplying risk assessments and scores in open records requests, citing copyright protections. Lawmakers are also weighing HB26-1315, which would create a quality review team and sustained training and review, while a draft version would make risk assessments and chronologicals public records with health details redacted. Corado’s family said it has “a lot of anger and a lot of questions” about how Huling was supervised, and Douglas County still needs answers about what indicators were missed before five people died on Highway 83.