BOWIE COUNTY, Texas–A man who received a 10-year probation for manslaughter last year in the 2023 death of a Texarkana motorist has been ordered to serve a 20-year prison sentence for the crime because of a reckless driving arrest involving road rage.
Robert Gene Culpepper, 24, pleaded guilty to manslaughter last June at a hearing before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell and was sentenced to a 10-year deferred adjudication probation. Culpepper and co-defendant Christopher Wayne Daniel had been racing along State Line Avenue on Dec. 18, 2023, when Culpepper’s truck struck a Honda Accord traveling west across State Line Ave. from E. 9th Street, killing the driver, 66-year-old Linda Faye Reed.
Individuals who successfully complete a deferred adjudication probation do not have a final conviction on their criminal records. However, defendants who violate the conditions of their probation can be sentenced in accordance with the punishment range allowed for the offense, which is two to 20 years for manslaughter.
Less than six months after receiving probation in Bowie County, Culpepper was charged with reckless driving in Henderson County, Texas, in connection with a road rage incident involving the off-duty chief of police for a local school district, according to court records.
Following his October arrest in Henderson County, officials with the Bowie County probation department filed a motion to set aside the order deferring adjudication in Culpepper’s manslaughter case. At a hearing in January, Judge Tidwell determined that Culpepper had violated his probation and sentenced him to serve 20 years in prison.
Before Culpepper entered into the plea agreement for manslaughter in June last year, the state was preparing for trial. As part of those preparations, the Bowie County District Attorney’s Office filed a notice detailing evidence it planned to use.
Culpepper did not have insurance on his Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck at the time of the crash that ended Reed’s life, the notice said. The truck had been outfitted with a “Bully Dog” performance enhancer and a radar detector.
Witnesses reported seeing the two men racing and data acquired from the Chevy reportedly showed that he accelerated to speeds as high as 74 miles per hour before the collision. State Line Ave. has a posted speed limit of 40 miles per hour.
Culpepper had a history of recording himself engaged in reckless driving behavior, the notice said. In November 2023, about a month before Reed’s death, Culpepper filmed himself passing another vehicle in a no-passing zone with his speed reaching more than 110 miles per hour as he held his phone with one hand and steered with the other.
Culpepper was known to law enforcement in De Kalb, Texas, for his reckless driving including in areas where schools are located, the notice said. The notice details a list of 11 traffic violations Culpepper had been convicted of prior to the deadly crash, including failure to yield and speeding.
Culpepper is currently being held in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Gurney Unit in Palestine, Texas. He will be eligible for parole in May 2034, according to TDCJ’s website.