Rockville, MD – In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, the Honorable Eric Johnson sentenced defendant Jose Badell-Uzcategui, 30, of Washington, D.C., to ten years in prison, suspending all but seven years to serve and five years of supervised probation upon release. The sentencing hearing was held on May 13, 2026. Badell-Uzcategui pleaded guilty on January 28, 2026, to one count of manslaughter by motor vehicle for causing the collision that killed 30-year-old Jazz Andrew Taylor of Columbia, MD.
In the early morning hours of August 6, 2025, Badell-Uzcategui was driving a silver 2024 Honda CR-V the wrong way on Sandy Spring Road near McKnew Road in Burtonsville. Multiple witnesses observed the defendant traveling at a high rate of speed eastbound in the westbound lanes prior to the collision. A motorist attempted to alert the defendant by flashing their headlights and honking their horn, but the defendant continued on the wrong side of the road until striking the victim’s red 2007 Honda CR-V, which was lawfully on the roadway. Despite lifesaving efforts by first-responders, Jazz Taylor was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation by the Montgomery County Police Collision Reconstruction Unit determined that a blood sample collected from the defendant at 4:45 a.m. (one hour and 24 minutes post-collision) was 182 mg/dL, which converts to 0.182 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. The investigation concluded that the defendant was traveling between 65 and 68 miles per hour (MPH) when his vehicle struck Taylor’s vehicle. This is above the posted 45-MPH speed limit (which is arguably 0 MPH for a vehicle traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes).
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Assistant State’s Attorney Christina Rodriguez prosecuted this case.
“We express our heartfelt condolences to the family of Jazz Taylor. The judge appropriately sentenced this defendant above the Maryland State Sentencing Guidelines. The defendant was not only driving while intoxicated but also traveling at a high rate of speed in the wrong direction on the roadway,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy.
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