‘It haunts me.’ Idaho social media personality gets prison term in teacher’s death

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — Chris Rowley’s daughter gently leaned her head on her father’s shoulder in a packed Ada County courtroom Thursday afternoon.

Surrounded by family, the father of three hugged his daughter back at times and waited to hear how long the woman who caused his wife’s death would spend in prison.

Fourth District Judge Lynn Norton sentenced 38-year-old Natalie Hodson to at least two years in prison on a vehicular manslaughter charge in the killing of Kristina Rowley, a 39-year-old teacher and mother. There are another 13 years attached to that sentence that Hodson could spend either in prison, on parole or both.

Hodson — who had been drinking — was driving a minivan in August 2022 on Idaho 55 north of Eagle when she struck Rowley, who had pulled over to check a trailer she was hauling, the Statesman previously reported. Hodson fled the scene and kept driving north, and later told deputies that she thought she hit a mailbox.

“She was my everything for 20 years,” Chris Rowley said in court. “She was everything to my children. She was their counselor, cheerleader, teacher, mentor and advocate.”

Just before the collision, Kristina Rowley was set to start her second year as a K-12 art and yearbook teacher in the Cascade School District, the Statesman previously reported. The school district’s superintendent said after the accident that Kristina Rowley was a “natural teacher” who was “engaging, kind, intuitive, intelligent and attuned to her students.” She was also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Now, Kristina Rowley won’t be able to attend her children’s high school graduations, see them go off on mission trips or to college, or attend their weddings and meet her grandchildren, Chris Rowley said.

He added that she was the glue that kept their family together.

“Our children are now forced to do all of these things without their mother to help guide them and celebrate their future paths,” Rowley said. “There are and will be those around them who will try to help fill the void of losing their mother, but none of these individuals — no matter how good their intentions — can fill that void.

“They are not Kristina.”

HODSON ATTORNEY ASKS FOR NO PRISON TIME, COMMUNITY PROGRAM

Hodson, who had developed a big social media following prior to the incident, pleaded guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter in January as part of a plea deal dropping a felony charge for leaving the scene of an accident, according to prior reporting. Hodson could have been sentenced to 15 years in prison without the possibility of parole, under state law.

Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Brittany Ford argued that Hodson should spend at least two years in prison before being eligible for parole, and that was what the judge did. Hodson’s private attorney, Michael Bartlett, asked the judge to place her in the Ada County Jail’s community transition program for a year.

The Boise mother began blogging about her fitness journey and eventually began teaching online business courses after an online book garnered a lot of attention, according to her website. Hodson’s Instagram account is no longer public and she hasn’t posted on her Facebook page, which has over 460,000 followers, since the crash.

On the day of the crash, Hodson had a doctor’s appointment for a mammogram over concerns she might have breast cancer, Bartlett said in court Thursday. He added that she had a lot of anxiety around the possible diagnoses and had to wait four months before seeing a doctor.

Bartlett said Hodson drank several alcoholic seltzers in the hospital parking lot before her appointment, and then proceeded to drink more after getting back into her car.

“Then she made the horrible decision to drive,” Bartlett said.

Hodson’s blood alcohol content was 0.085, just slightly over the legal limit of 0.08, Ford said in court. But that reading was taken several hours after the accident, so it was likely higher when she was driving, Ford added.

Since the incident Hodson has been enrolled in several treatment programs for alcoholism, including a monthlong inpatient program, Bartlett said. Hodson has attended over 600 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in the past year and a half, the attorney said.

Bartlett argued that the treatment people receive in prison isn’t equivalent to what people can get otherwise. Hodson has been able to become a leader within her treatment community and has a large group of supporters, Bartlett said.

“The state cannot deny that the defendant has taken a lot of action during the dependency of this case to address her substance abuse,” Ford said before sentencing. “She has admitted to being an alcoholic, and admitted that that issue started well before this incident.”

Ford argued that rehabilitation wasn’t the only factor Judge Norton should consider when handing down Hodson’s sentence, adding that “justice requires there be some punishment.”

Hodson told the judge that she’d willingly accept whatever prison sentence was handed to her and that no punishment would ever be enough.

“I stand before you today because I committed a terrible crime,” Hodson said Thursday. “I take full responsibility for the selfish and tragic crime that I committed, and I have only myself to blame for why we are here today.”

Hodson said she wanted the Rowley family to know the “deep sorrow” she feels and how often she thinks about their family. She thinks about them when tucking her kids into bed, during the holidays or even doing mundane things like setting the table, Hodson said, adding that she knows the Rowley family will have an “empty space” no matter what.

“The deep, deep remorse, and overwhelming guilt and crippling shame that I feel is something that I will live with the rest of my life,” Hodson said. “The agony and pain in knowing that I killed a woman — a mother, a wife, a sister and a daughter.

“It haunts me.”