Teen killed, father hurt when suspected drunken driver crashes into White Settlement home

A teenage 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 night, police said.

The crash occurred about 6:15 p.m. in the 9300 block of Jason Court.

A pickup truck pulling a flatbed trailer was traveling southbound on Dale Lane when the driver lost control, White Settlement police said in a news release. The pickup went off the road, crashed through a neighbor’s fence and trees on the north side of Jason Court and then crossed the street and crashed into the victims’ home on the south side of the street, police said.

There were three people inside the house, according to police.

The victim, who was the family’s teenage daughter, has been identified as Katey June Kirkland, 18, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office website on Monday. Kirkland was pronounced dead at 6:37 p.m. Sunday. She was a student at Saginaw High School in the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school district.

The girl’s father was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries. Her mother suffered minor injuries.

The man driving the pickup truck was arrested on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault. Police identified him as 63-year-old Donald Gruber.

A woman who was a passenger in the truck was taken to a local hospital for minor injuries and is cooperating with investigators, police said.

Neighbors said they tried to help the family after witnessing the crash.

Jose O’Neill told KDFW-TV that he heard a “big bang” and “I start running there and try to help them. I saw our neighbor calling, calling two names and it was just driving me crazy. I was trying to find them.”

The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office is assisting with processing of the crime scene and mapping of the crash. The White Settlement Police Department is handling the criminal investigation.

“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. “This is a preventable crime, should not have happened at all, and we will hold the person responsible accountable.”

The road remained closed Sunday night for the investigation.