Driver In Texas Crash Killing 13 Ingested Pills, Had Pot: Affidavits

UVALDE, TX — The driver believed to have been texting and driving when he plowed into a church van last month in South Texas, killing 13 senior citizens, had ingested prescription pills before the crash and was in possession of marijuana, court records revealed.

Jack D. Young, 20, of Leakey, Texas, was videotaped by another motorist weaving in and out of traffic prior to the March 29 crash on U.S. 83. Pinned to his car after the collision, he later is said to have told that other motorist that he had been texting.

But court records referenced by the Houston Chronicle suggest he may have been further impaired given the drug use cited in court records. Traveling northbound in a 2007 Dodge pickup truck, Young crossed the center line on a highway curve before hitting a bus carrying 14 First Baptist Church of New Braunfels members returning home after Bible study near Garner State Park, killing all but one of the occupants.

The deadly collision occurred about 6 miles north of Concan, Texas.

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The new details about Young's actions and condition before the collision were contained in two affidavits in support of search warrants filed by Department of Public Safety troopers with state District Judge Camile DuBose and one filing by District Attorney Daniel Kindred, the Chronicle reported.

Moreover, in seeking access to blood drawn from Young by University Hospital, an affidavit signed by Trooper Scott Hewitt on March 30 said he had probable cause to believe Young was intoxicated at the time of the crash.

Other than that evidence, Young acknowledged after the crash that he had earlier consumed two pills of Clonazepam — which he said make him sleepy — and the generic forms of the prescription drugs Ambien and Lexapro, the trooper wrote, as reported by the Chronicle. An unidentified pharmacist quoted in the affidavit said that combination of drugs could have impaired a driver by causing drowsiness or inducing sleep, the newspaper reported.

Another trooper quoted in the affidavit reported finding two intact marijuana cigarettes in the center console of Young's truck along with five partially smoked joints, the Chronicle reported.

No field sobriety test was conducted on Young in the aftermath of the crash given the severity of his injuries, but a warrant to test his blood for intoxicants was subsequently secured, according to the report. Young was discharged from the hospital a week ago.

>>> Read the full story at Houston Chronicle

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