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Family still waiting for answers one year after Millcreek accident took daughter’s life

Posted at 9:34 PM, Jun 17, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-18 11:49:58-04

MILLCREEK, Utah — Just over a year ago, 48-year-old Joslyn Spilsbury lost her life while sitting at Starbucks in Millcreek. However, her family says it's been hard to process the grief, knowing charges have not been filed.

Gay Lynne Sylvies used to live around the corner from the Millcreek Starbucks where her daughter, Joslyn, was hit by a truck while sitting outside drinking coffee with friends.

"I couldn’t really get away from going past the place she was killed," Sylvies said.

In an effort to move forward, she's moved to California, but the distance hasn't made it much easier.

"It’s just gut-wrenching. I’m so anxious all the time and I’m just not enjoying life, you know? I can’t settle down," she said.

The main reason: no charges have been filed against the man behind the wheel, West Walker.

"If it was something he had no control over, it was just an event, then he would be forthcoming," Sylvies said. "But it was something he knew. He knew something was wrong."

When Walker arrived at the hospital, he immediately requested a lawyer and has refused to speak to investigators.

"In this country, you do not have to give a statement to anyone because that’s your right, and that should not ever be taken as an inference of any kind of wrongdoing on the person who exercises their constitutional rights," Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said.

However, Gill says he's not giving up on the case, which was just handed over to his office in January 2019.

"It takes time to put these cases together and beyond just the accident reconstruction, then it takes some time from a criminal analysis of articulating charges so that’s what a little bit different about these kinds of cases," says Gill.

"With all the curious things that happened around it, it just makes you create stories," Sylvies said.

Without any conclusions, she has been left speculating, wondering, if she'll ever be able to move on.

"We all want to forgive. If nothing, then for selfish reasons. Just to get your life back. You want to forgive people. At least I do," she said.

Wanting to forgive, but still waiting for an apology.

Sylvies says her family will pursue a civil suit if criminal charges are not filed.