An Edgerton man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for a drugged driving crash that badly injured two Middleton girls, ages 12 and 13, walking home from school a year ago. “I’m absolutely destroyed by what I’ve done, and I’m readily accepting of any and all penalties that I’ll be facing,” Ross Cotter-Brown said at his sentencing in Dane County Court on Tuesday.
Cotter-Brown has prior OWI convictions and was high on synthetic pot and prescription drugs at the time of the crash.
“You had so many chances to get your life on track, and I’m glad you’re doing the right thing to fix your life today, but that does not fix what you have done. It does not fix the pain that you have caused,” said Theresa Meyer, mother of one of the victims.
Cotter-Brown was speeding through Middleton on April 21st of last year when he struck middle school students, 13-year old Arianna Meyer and 12-year old Hayley Krause. He then drove off and smashed into a disabled woman’s car before being taken into custody.
Both girls suffered broken bones and disfiguring injuries, and faced a long road to recovery. “Little did we know how tough the road ahead was going to be,” Theresa Meyer said, noting that her daughter “made me cover all the mirrors in the house because she felt she looked like a monster.”
