Bond denied again for driver accused in fatal Cape Coral DUI crash

LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK) — We are now learning new details in a fatal DUI crash that took the life of a Cape Coral mother and left her husband seriously injured.

On Sunday, 64-year-old Debbie Stortzum was killed and her husband, Chuck, was injured following a DUI crash at the intersection of Beach Parkway West and Oasis Boulevard.

"He's (Chuck) in a lot of pain and needing lots of care right now," Michelle Buenker, Stortzum's daughter, said.

The accused driver, 22-year-old Tyler Paul Janson, appeared before a Lee County judge on Friday and was denied bond for a second time.

Janson is facing charges of DUI manslaughter, along with four other DUI-related charges.

The decision to hold Janson stems from a pattern of behavior behind the wheel, which landed Janson in handcuffs in the past for another DUI.

Janson was convicted of his previous DUI and placed on probation just a week before this deadly crash.

On Friday, Cape Coral Officer Heath Roody, a traffic homicide investigator, testified speed and alcohol played a role.

Roody testified Janson's 17-year-old girlfriend was in the car at the time of the crash and had also been drinking.

"I smelled the odor of alcohol from him when he was talking and we were trying to figure out what happened in the crash," he said.

Roody also testified Janson was driving 71 mph in a 35 and his breath sample was twice the legal limit. 

That testimony was enough to convince Lee County Circuit Judge Nicholas R. Thompson to hold Janson without bond until his eventual trial.

"I do find the state has shown that there are no conditions of release that would adequately protect the community from risk of harm," Thompson said.

For Stortzum's two daughters, that harm can't be undone.

"Our mom was great," Mindy Knable, Stortzum's daughter, said. "She was wonderful. She was so loving and caring and loved her grandkids and her kids and would do anything for us."

Janson’s next court date has not yet been set.

WINK News will continue to follow this case and provide updates as it moves through the judicial process.