ST. GEORGE — The driver convicted of the deaths of two cyclists appeared for sentencing amid a courtroom packed with the victims’  family members who have waited nearly 26 months to describe the two remarkable men who were killed that day.

Julie Ann Budge, 48, was in Fifth District Court Tuesday for sentencing on two third-degree felony counts of automobile homicide negligence, as well as misdemeanor reckless driving and failing to remain in her lane of travel. Budge was convicted of the charges following a five-day jury trial in January.

Budge was the driver who struck and killed two cyclists — brothers Matthew Bullard and Adam Bullard — during an annual ride in Washington County on April 9, 2022. The men were participating in the Spring Tour of St. George with their teenage sons, both of whom were trailing behind when their fathers were struck.

One element mentioned multiple times during the hearing was the loss of Matthew Bullard and Adam Bullard — a loss that resulted in two shattered families left to grieve in silence.

“Their names weren’t mentioned more than a few times during the trial and their picture was only shown once,” said April Bullard, widow of Matthew Bullard.

“For anyone who didn’t get the chance to know Matt and Adam, I’m sorry for that. You missed out on the chance to have two of the nicest, kindest, coolest, honest and amazing men as friends. The defendant robbed the life of two remarkable men who are pillars of light in our lives,” as evidenced by the more than 1,000 people that attended their funeral. 

She went on to say that while the jury trial was for the defendant, “Today is for Matt and Adam and our family.” 

Matthew Bullard 

Matthew Bullard and Adam Bullard were born to Donald and Lois Bullard and were raised in Cerritos, California.

As an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Matthew Bullard served a mission in Texas. Once he returned home he married April Bullard in the LDS temple in Los Angeles. The couple have four children between the ages of 12 and 24.

He later earned a business degree from Brigham Young University and both he and Adam Bullard worked in a family-owned valve business in Santa Fe Springs, California, where the two shared an office and were very close.

In 2012, Matthew Bullard was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a condition that did not slow him down when he became heavily involved in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He went on to participate in a number of fundraising and cycling events for the cause.

He was described as someone who always had a smile on his face, never spoke badly about anyone, avoided disputes and drama and was always willing to help others. So much so, that his wife said she “hit the jackpot” when she married him.

Adam Bullard 

Adam met his wife Shannon Bullard while serving a church mission in New Jersey, and in 1999, the couple were married in the Los Angeles Temple. One year later, their son and only child, Jacob Bullard, was born.

Adam Bullard loved to be outside and to see the world, and what he loved most about traveling was being with family, his wife said.

If there was one sentence that could describe her husband, it would be “faith, family and cycling” in that order. He never knew a stranger, was a kid at heart and had an amazing ability in capturing the world as he viewed it through cycling. One consistent response from those who learned about her husband’s death was, “He was my best friend.”

Her husband’s most important role was being a father to Jacob, she said, and he attended every sporting event and was the loudest voice on the sidelines as he advocated for his son, who was also his father’s “best and closest friend.”

The family speaks 

It was on that final ride April 9, 2022, that Jacob Bullard saw his father for the last time during what was supposed to be a fun day spent with his dad, his uncle and his cousin.

Instead, he said, he found his dad and his uncle dying, “with their bikes shattered and broken into million pieces all over the roadway.”

No more camping, spending nights under the stars or taking road trips together, he said, or seeing his dad on the sidelines during every one of his soccer games or track meets. 

“My dad has been my best friend since the day I was born,” Jacob Bullard said.

The loss has not gotten any easier but has only lengthened the time he has spent without having his father in his life — an absence that has not only affected him but his deceased father as well.

“And now my dad is going to miss us forever,” he said. 

Adam Bullard’s widow, Shannon Bullard, described the call from Jacob, their only son, shortly after the crash and said she listened “to the agony and the most heartbreaking anguish and scream from my son who said his dad and uncle ‘got hit by someone,'” just before she left to be with her son in Utah.  

“The last thing I remember from that call was my son screaming, ‘Not my dad. Not my dad, please God,'” she said. 

She described the impact of spending the last two years waiting for justice to be served and the toll it has taken on the family.

She said they have spent their entire savings to travel back and forth to St. George from their home in California to attend each hearing, while “endless motions” were filed in the case, all of which caused “cruel and intentional distress,” she said.

“There was zero consideration or respect shown for my grieving family during that time,” she said, nor was there any consideration for the financial strain in hotel rooms, medical bills and funeral expenses — all because two innocent men were killed while participating in a biking event. 

To the defendant, Shannon Bullard said, “You think living in jail is hell. Well, I’m here to tell you that I am living in far worse.”

Abigail Kate Bullard, Matthew Bullard’s eldest daughter, described how Budge’s actions that day have affected her life by saying, “I will never be able to see my dad for as long as I’m alive.”

She went on to describe her wedding day as the day before the year mark of her father’s death. 

“My dad was not able to see me get married, I couldn’t dance with him. He couldn’t witness my joy and happiness,” she said.

April Bullard, Matthew Bullard’s widow, said her children have been so traumatized by “this legal circus” that some of them have chosen not to speak during the hearing, including her teenage son, Michael Bullard, who was riding with his father that day.

She read his statement during the proceedings, and described how he found his father lying on the ground. “But his eyes were open and looking at me. So I thought he was alive and I was waiting for him to speak,” he wrote.

She described the call from her son who was screaming and crying and begging for his father to be alive and said she could hear both sons “begging, crying and pleading for help.”

April Bullard also described the impact of her husband’s death on their 10-year-old daughter, who told her that since his death, she has been afraid of other people in her life dying. “Especially my mom. It scares me to think about something bad happening to her too.” 

April Bullard went on to describe her brother-in-law, Adam Bullard, as the greatest uncle to her children. She used to think that if anything ever happened to her husband, she said, at least they would still have their uncle in their lives. “Now they don’t even have that.” 

She closed by saying her husband was charitable, honest and faithful and was a true gift from God that she misses everyday. 

“And I will miss him every day until I see him again,” she said.

The defendant responds

Budge made an emotional statement as she apologized to both families for the pain she has caused, and it was her hope, she said, that whatever sentence was to be imposed, it would help the families move forward and heal.

She closed, saying, “I have lived, and I will live knowing I have killed two people every day of my life.” 

Prior to rendering a sentence, Judge Donald J. Eyre Jr., a senior 4th District Court judge who was appointed to hear the case, said there is something very different about crimes that result in death because of the finality of it all.

The judge said the court had the opportunity to hear the testimony and evaluate the evidence during the trial, which included videos of Budge at the scene, and graphic evidence that showed the defendant was “clearly” in no position to have been driving that day. 

Ultimately, it was the jury that determined the defendant was impaired at the time of the incident — one that took two lives — which has had a “terrible impact” on the lives of their families.  

Based on those factors, the judge said, he was deviating from the recommendations outlined in the presentence report and ordered that Budge spend 0-5 years in Utah State Prison on each of the felony charges and six months in jail on each of the misdemeanors.

He also ordered the prison sentences to run consecutive to one another, while the misdemeanor terms would run concurrent to the prison sentence.

To the Bullard family, the judge said it was the court’s hope that they can now get on with their lives as a way to honor the lives of the victims.

The judge encouraged Budge to take advantage of the programs while she serves her time at the prison with the hope that she gets her life in order before she is released.

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