An 18-year-old girl was killed and her father seriously injured when a suspected drunken driver crashed a pickup truck into their home in White Settlement on Sunday, July 7th. The crash occurred at the 9300 block of Jason Court in White Settlement, TX.
The teen victim was identified as Katey June Kirkland, a student at Saginaw High School. Kirkland was found under the vehicle and pronounced dead at 6:37 pm according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner. The father was taken to a hospital with serious injuries and the mother suffered non-life-threatening injury injuries.
The driver was identified as 63-year-old Donald Gruber from White Settlement, Texas.
White Settlement police say Gruber has been convicted three different times of DWI. Gruber was arrested at the scene and is facing charges of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault.
"It’s evident there was speed involved in this collision, and certainly if we believe the facts to bear out that this person was impaired, he should have never been behind the wheel," White Settlement Police Chief Christopher Cook said at a news conference Sunday aired on NBC 5. "This is a preventable crime, should not have happened at all, and we will hold the person responsible accountable."
The White Settlement Police Department is working with local school officials in the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school district to provided support services for students and staff mourning Kirkland.
According to the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school district, Kirkland was entering her senior year in high school. Kirkland's Dad is a teacher at Boswell High School.
