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Late night crash kills mother, daughter
By Heather M. Smith, hsmith@acnpapers.com
A mother and her teenage daughter were killed in a weekend crash that involved a driver with three prior drunk driving convictions.
Around 2 a.m. on Sunday, a black Mazda driven by John Patrick Barton of Lewisville struck the rear end of a red Nissan four-door sedan carrying the Hull family. The driver of the Nissan, Kandace Hull, 33, was killed upon impact and her 14-year-old daughter, Autumn Caudle, was transported by CareFlite to Parkland Hospital. She was pronounced dead at 10:22 a.m. Anthony Hull, 33, was transported Parkland Hospital. He is currently in stable condition. Officials said 16-year-old Dominique and 12-year-old Jake are expected to recover. They were both transported to Children’s Hospital of Dallas. Their condition is unknown.
“We took several statements from eyewitnesses,” said Capt. Jay Powell. “At this time, the department is still investigating this incident.”
“Yesterday was hard on a lot of students. We had counselors, school psychologists and counselors from local parishes available for the students. The students made a memorial in Autumn’s honor, wrote her notes and drew her pictures. They also decorated her locker. There are a lot of memories that are being honored here.”
According to Gibson, the eighth-grade class began the TAKS test on Monday and every student came to school. After the test, students returned to see the counselors, he said.
This is not the first time the school has suddenly lost a student. Gibson said several years ago a student passed away, and the school named an award after this person.
“Because of the type of person Autumn was we may need to make a humanitarian award in her honor,” Gibson said. “She will be missed around here.”
Autumn’s younger brother, Jake, is a seventh grader at Argyle Middle School. Gibson said his class was also deeply affected by tragedy.
“Really, the whole school has been affected by this,” Gibson said. “But we’re feeling the warmth of the community right now. Everyone is coming together.”
According to Powell, the eyewitnesses said that Barton was traveling at a high rate of speed and was driving erratically. Witnesses said he was attempting to change lanes into the middle lane, and struck the Nissan from the rear, causing both vehicles to spin. The vehicles traveled quite a distance before they came to rest.
Lewisville officers conducted an investigation and found probable cause to believe that the driver of the Mazda was intoxicated at the time of the crash. Barton, the driver of the Mazda, was arrested on two counts of murder. In the past 13 years, Barton was arrested three times for driving while intoxicated—twice in Denton and once more in Grapevine.
“Because of this crash he will face felony charges,” Powell said. “Typically if you cause a wreck like this the charge would be intoxication manslaughter, but Barton was already committing a felony when he got behind the wheel after he had been drinking.”
Barton's three previous DWI convictions elevate the current case to a felony. Because he is accused of an act “clearly dangerous to human life that caused the death of two” people while committing the felony, the law allows police to charge Barton with murder. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Each time Barton was arrested, the courts handed down probation, weekends in jail, restrictions on his driver’s license and time spent in a state prison. At the time of the crash, he was on parole.
After serving 10 months of a three-year sentence on his most recent conviction, Barton was paroled in 2009. He was restricted from driving a vehicle without an ignition-locking device, to ensure he was sober behind the wheel.
Barton was injured in the crash and was transported to Baylor University Medical Center. According to Powell, he is “sitting up and conscious” now. Barton remains under police watch and will be transferred to jail soon. The passenger in his car, Travis Brasuell, was not injured.
Investigators do not yet know where Barton and Brasuell were coming from when the Hull’s vehicle was struck, nor have they determined where the family was headed. Powell said results of a blood alcohol test performed on Barton would not be available for several days.
“It’s not uncommon during the holiday seasons for families to be traveling at all hours,” Powell said. “But at this time we have not received statements from the family to know where they were going.”
According to Barton’s Facebook page, he worked as a computer technician and married last year. The Mazda he was driving was registered to his wife, Lauren.
In 1997, Barton was arrested for burglary, receiving deferred adjudication. When his deferred adjudication was revoked two years later, Barton was sentenced to six months in jail. In 2008, he was fined for speeding and driving without a license.
“Barton could be charged for the other victims, but at this time it’s a waiting game to see how they do,” Powell said.
Mary Kardell, executive director of the North Texas affiliate of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said the general public should be outraged about this incident.
“You have to think about this, why aren’t we repulsed like we are with sex offenders? The general public needs to say we, ‘want maximum sentences for repeat drunk driving offenders’,” Kardell said. “We deserve the right to drive on the road without worrying about dying.”
Kardell said if judges and juries in drunken driving cases were giving out the maximum sentences, there wouldn’t be so many repeat offenders on the road.
“When someone sits on the jury they’ve got to understand that isn’t not ok to drink and drive,” Kardell said. “It’s ok to have a drink, but once you get behind the wheel it’s not ok. We have a responsibility to each other to not drink and drive, and the courts need to enforce the laws.”
During the 2011 legislature, MADD will again fight for lawmakers to pass two key laws: mandatory sobriety check points and mandatory ignition-locking devices on cars. Kardell said if Texas had mandatory sobriety checkpoints, it could save 300-400 lives a year.
“Sobriety checkpoints are a deterrent. All our surrounding states have checkpoints,” Kardell said. “In the previous legislature we got further than we ever have before, and we hope this is the year it’s passed. We will continue to see loss of life and horrendous crashes if something isn’t done.”
In 2009, the north Texas chapter of MADD served more than 1,500 victims of drunk driving, according to Kardell. She said MADD offers services for victims of drunk driving.
“We reach out to the schools, families, officers and anyone else affected by these incidents,” Kardell said. “One in three people will be affected by drunk driving in their lives, and we feel it is part of our duty to help those victims.”
Kardell said they have reached out to Argyle Middle School and Argyle High School.
“We delivered support materials and offered any assistance they might need,” Kardell said. “The students are devastated. We also sent out our ‘we care card’ to the family. That card says we will be there for them anytime they need us.”
Kardell said the organization tries not to force themselves on families, but they will be there for them in their darkest hour.
Donations to the Hull Family Memorial Fund – set up by PhysAssist Scribes Inc., where Kandace Hull worked – may be made at any Wells Fargo bank.
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