The father of a drunken driver who killed a Colorado bicyclist drew gasps at his daughter’s sentencing Tuesday by implying the victim took an irresponsible risk by riding on a street.

Callie Kuhasz, 25, received the maximum sentence, 12 years, for the hit-and-run crash that killed Bill Davis last June near Boulder, Colo. She veered into the bicycle lane before hitting him, according to the highway patrol. Her blood alcohol level when she was arrested three hours later was 0.148 percent.

In a police video made shortly after her arrest, Kuhasz blamed Davis for the crash. Chief District Judge Maria Berkenkotter said the video — “deeply, deeply disturbing” — was a factor in her imposition of the sentence. The maximum of 12 years was set in a deal under which Kuhasz pleaded guilty in March to one count of vehicular homicide.

At the sentencing hearing, her father, Chris Kuhasz, said that his daughter had been painted as an “evil villain” by the media, which had “sensationalized” the entire incident. He added that he used to ride a bicycle but stopped because he thought it was unsafe.

Riding next to a “3,000-pound vehicle” is dangerous whether or not alcohol is involved, he said. “If you do ride on the open road,” he added, “be aware about what can happen. You have a responsibility to your family.”

A gasp could be heard from spectators.

Davis was married and had three young sons.

His widow, Brianne Davis, said that she was relieved to hear that Kuhasz received the maximum sentence but it still felt like a “slap in the face.”

Justice was not served, she said at a brief press conference following a nearly three-hour-long sentencing hearing at Boulder District Court. “I feel like the only way that could have happened,” she said, “is if she had swerved and missed him and driven into some inanimate object and either hurt herself or killed herself.

“That really would have been the only way.”

Emotions ran high as nine members of Davis’ family and one friend approached a lectern to give their thoughts on what punishment Kuhasz should face.

Related Articles Amgen Tour route tragedy: An amateur bicyclist’s death

San Jose: Bicyclist killed in crash on Mount Hamilton Among them was Davis’ 9-year-old son, Blake, who stood by his uncle, Eric Bachman, as Bachman read a statement Blake had written. In it, Blake said that “half of my heart was taken away” by his father’s death.

“I think Callie should go to jail forever,” the statement continued.

Bachman himself said: “I don’t think anyone can forgive another person who could hit someone and leave them on the side of the road and not call for help.”

Mike Dunbar, who was riding with Davis, was only feet away from his friend when he was struck. “There was no honk of a horn,” he said. “There was no screech of tires. All there was was the sound of the car continuing down the road. All I could think is Bill is hurt and they are getting away.”

According to the Colorado State Patrol, Kuhasz was driving a 2015 Dodge Durango around 5 p.m. on June 25 when she veered three feet into the bicycle lane on Jay Road, a two-lane road in a residential area on the outskirts of Boulder. She struck Davis, then drove away without stopping.

A witness told police she saw Kuhasz “hysterically laughing,” though Kuhasz’s former attorney, Thomas Braham, later said she was “freaking out,” and not laughing.

According to an arrest affidavit, when police found Kuhasz, she had a strong odor of alcohol on her breath. There were five unopened beers remaining in the 30-pack of Busch Light in her truck. Besides the blood-alcohol level of 0.148 percent, her blood test indicated metabolites of cocaine and THC.

Kuhasz’s family and friends of her family testified that she is a kind and caring woman with a Christian upbringing and large support system. They pleaded with the judge for a more lenient sentence.

Kuhasz’s attorney, Lisa Fine Moses, asked for leniency, saying her client suffers from serious mental health issues and has attempted suicide several times since she has been incarcerated.

Kuhasz spoke prior to sentencing and said she spent the first four months in jail crying “in the fetal position,” but she is praying for Bill Davis’ family every night.

Bill Davis was westbound in the bike lane of Jay Road near 30th Street when he was struck. The speed limit on the road is 35 mph.