New arrest made in DWI crash into house that killed 18-year-old woman in White Settlement

A second person has been arrested and charged with manslaughter in White Settlement after police said her intoxication contributed to a pickup truck crashing into a home and killing an 18-year-old woman on Aug. 7.

Police said Donald Gruber, 63, and Peggy Cox, 69, have been arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter. Gruber was arrested at the scene the night of the crash, and Cox was arrested Thursday.

The crash happened around 6:20 p.m. Aug. 7 in the 9300 block of Jason Court in White Settlement, according to police. Katey Kirkland, an 18-year-old high school student, was inside the house and was killed by the crash.

Her father, Kevin Kirkland, was sent to a hospital in critical condition. Amy Kirkland, Kevin Kirkland’s wife and Katey’s mother, spends many hours at the hospital with her husband, friends of the family told the Star-Telegram in August.

Katey Kirkland was going to be a senior at Saginaw High School, where her mother is a teacher. Her father teaches at Boswell High School. Amy Kirkland was inside the home at the time of the crash but she was not seriously injured.

“She is charged with the unimaginable task of moving forward through this tragedy,” according to a statement on the Kirkland family’s GoFundMe page, referring to Amy Kirkland. As of Thursday evening, the fundraiser had garnered more than $19,250 in donations for the family. The goal is $50,000.

New arrest

Police said toxicology reports showed both Gruber and Cox were intoxicated at the time of the crash. Witnesses told police the vehicle was going over 50 mph, according to an arrest warrant affidavit for Cox. One witness estimated it was traveling around 100 mph.

When investigators interviewed Cox, she told them neither she nor Gruber were intoxicated but said both of them were drinking, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. But toxicology reports showed Gruber had a blood alcohol level of .085 and Cox had a blood alcohol level of .1, both over the legal limit. Cox told investigators that Gruber had two vodka mixed drinks and she had three at a bar near White Settlement before driving.

Cox told police Gruber had a coughing fit while driving, which caused him to pass out, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. She told police that when he did pass out, he slumped down onto the steering wheel and his foot pressed the gas pedal all the way down. Cox said she reached over and grabbed the steering wheel to try to control the vehicle as it accelerated.

Cox told police that Gruber has had coughing fits that have caused him to pass out before, but never while he was driving, according to the affidavit. He has never been diagnosed with any medical condition to prove he has coughed and passed out, Cox said.

Police said in the affidavit that because Cox knew how much both she and Gruber had to drink and that Gruber had decided to drive after drinking, because toxicology reports showed Cox was intoxicated and because she admitted to grabbing the wheel while the vehicle was in motion, she should be charged with intoxication manslaughter.

The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office has provided consultation to White Settlement police throughout the investigation and made the decision to charge Cox with intoxication manslaughter, according to police.

“This was incredible work by Detective Page to seek justice for the victim and their family,” White Settlement Police Chief Christopher Cook said in a news release. “We continue to lift this family up in prayer as they continue the long healing process and recovery from serious injuries. The investigation revealed that the passenger also operated the motor vehicle during this horrific incident and during the crash.”

Criminal history

Gruber is free after he posted $50,000 bond on Aug. 13 following his arrest on charges of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle and intoxication assault with a vehicle.

Law enforcement records showed that Gruber had three previous DWI convictions before the crash.

Gruber was just blocks away from his home when the crash happened. He was convicted twice in Indian Harbour Beach, Florida — on June 24, 1983, and again on Nov. 23, 1993, according to police records. The city is about 70 miles southeast of Orlando.

A few years later, Gruber was convicted of DWI in DeKalb County, Georgia, in the Atlanta area.