DV case against COS woman convicted of dragging tow truck driver to death dismissed

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The 2023 domestic violence case against Detra Farries, the Colorado Springs woman convicted in 2011 for dragging a tow truck driver to his death, walked out of the El Paso County Jail Thursday a free woman.

The death of that tow truck driver, Allen Rose, was traumatizing for so many people back in 2011, and his daughter said this update proves Farries should never have been released early from serving her sentence.

Farries was sentenced to 20 years in prison for manslaughter, vehicular homicide, and leaving the scene of an accident. However, she was released on parole in 2021, serving around half of her sentence imposed by an El Paso County Judge.

"It was very appropriate in that case. The judge did a great job. Unfortunately, in our parole system, they actually held her longer than they do most," former 4th Judicial District Attorney Dan May said.

May, who was the elected district attorney at the time of the crime, says the case grew broad interest from the Colorado Springs community because of how gruesome it was, and how Rose was simply doing his job at the time.

"She drug Alan Rose for over a mile. And you go out there and you see this mile-long blood trail. It's just chilling. At one point, they went around the corner and you could see where he was reaching for a guardrail, trying to dislodge himself."

The new criminal allegations for Farries surrounded a November 5, 2023 incident between her and a man she was seeing at the time. According to court documents obtained by KRDO13 Investigates, Colorado Springs Police collected video evidence showing Farries jamming a broom into the stomach of the man and hurling multiple punches at his head.

The case was charged by the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office as 3rd-degree assault, a misdemeanor, and domestic violence, a sentence enhancer. However, on Feb. 29, Farries' criminal defense attorney Jeremy Loew said the video evidence collected by police did not show what occurred before the alleged assault.

"There were a number of stages and evaluations done, and what was determined was the actions that ensued were kind of reactionary. And she was not necessarily the perpetrator of the assault and harassment initially," Loew said.

Loew added that multiple witnesses set to testify in a potential trial set for Thursday were uncooperative, which would have made the likelihood of success at a trial a stretch for the prosecution.

KRDO13 Investigates asked the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office for why the misdemeanor case against Farries was dismissed. A spokesperson said they could not proceed to a trial because the victim was uncooperative and unreachable.

At the time of Farries being charged, she was two-plus years into a five-year time of mandatory parole, according to internal Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) records. She was considered a low risk to re-offend by evaluators who test inmates before they appear in front of the Colorado Parole Board.

When she was arrested and taken to the El Paso County Jail, she was held on a parole hold, which is not a new criminal charge, but does allow DOC to hold parolees charged with new crimes until a disposition is reached.

In this case, DOC records show Farries was originally granted an early discharge of parole, meaning her parole would have ended early because she was charged with 3rd-degree-assault. On Nov. 17, days after being charged, that was revoked by the Colorado Parole Board, and Farries was held in the El Paso County Jail for four and half months on the parole hold.

"Ms. Farries since she's been paroled has had a career. She has tried her best to be a positive member of society. I think she has looked at ways to make amends for the actions that she did back in 2011," Loew said.

KRDO13 Investigates confirmed with the El Paso County Sheriff's office that Farries was released from jail at 2:45 P.M. Thursday. Her parole hold likely was lifted after her pending criminal charges were dismissed.

Friday, we reached out to the Colorado Department of Corrections for what happens next for Farries. At the time of publication, we have not received a response.