Isaiah Sadowski will spend 10 years and three months in state prison for killing 75-year-old Barbara Patterson in a drunk-driving crash in Overland Park.
Johnson County District Court Judge Thomas Kelly Ryan handed down the maximum sentence for reckless second-degree murder on Wednesday, Sept. 16. The case stretched nearly five years, including 520 days Sadowski spent as a fugitive in Mexico.
A jury had unanimously convicted Sadowski on June 18 after roughly two and a half hours of deliberation, according to a Johnson County District Attorney's Office press release. Assistant District Attorneys Kendall Kaut and Melinda Parrish prosecuted the case with help from the Overland Park Police Department and the Johnson County Crime Lab.
The crash
Patterson was driving home from a family gathering on Dec. 27, 2021, when Sadowski, then 20, ran a red light at 127th Street and Quivira Road in a red Chevrolet Camaro. He struck her silver Nissan Versa. She died at the scene.
Police and crash reconstruction experts determined Sadowski had been driving over 100 mph on Quivira Road, where the speed limit is 45 mph. Fox 4 Kansas City reported court records showed he was traveling 118 mph five seconds before the collision. Traffic camera footage showed the light had been red for 12 seconds when his car entered the intersection.
His blood alcohol level was 0.13 about two hours after the crash, according to the Johnson County Post. Kansas law sets the legal limit at 0.08 for adults 21 and older and 0.02 for anyone 20 or younger. Sadowski was 20 at the time.
Flight to Mexico
Sadowski was charged in February 2022. His family said he hired and fired three attorneys before fleeing Johnson County in March 2024, while the case was headed to trial.
He was captured in August 2025 during a joint operation between the U.S. Marshals Service and Mexican law enforcement, then extradited to Texas and back to Johnson County.
'Because someone's a coward'
The sentencing hearing lasted about five hours. Patterson's son, Michael Pence, told the court he had been without his mother for 1,724 days "because someone's a coward and ran to Mexico," looking directly at Sadowski as he spoke.
Patterson's brother, Lou Holsapple, said she never took the highway and had simply been driving home that night.
Sadowski, who was set to turn 25 the week after sentencing, addressed the court before Ryan delivered the sentence. He said no apology or action could bring Patterson back or make things right.
Ryan noted that during the trial, Sadowski could not bring himself to say plainly that he killed Patterson.
What's next
Sadowski will receive credit for 407 days already served. He must register as a violent offender for 15 years.
His defense team filed a notice of appeal during the hearing. Ryan denied all defense requests for a new trial.
Residents can report suspected impaired drivers by calling 911.
