A Bowie County grand jury has indicted a man for intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault in connection with a major accident in Texarkana, Texas, on May 1.
Kendrick Sauls, 21, was originally charged with two counts of intoxication assault but an occupant of the vehicle he crashed into at the intersection of Summerhill Road and New Boston Road has since died of his injuries.
Sauls was driving a Dodge pickup when he collided with a Hyundai Santa Fe, causing major damage. Both the Hyundai’s driver and passenger Mario Haynes, 36, were seriously injured. Haynes did not survive.
After the crash, officers allegedly observed a bottle of “steel reserve” on the ground next to the driver’s side of the truck, according to a probable cause affidavit. The first officer to approach Sauls reported that Sauls was yelling at his passenger, “Just kill me,” following the wreck.
The Hyundai’s driver suffered a variety of injuries including a broken neck, broken collar bone, fractured ribs, lacerated liver, broken bones in both hands and a skull fracture. The driver’s child suffered minor scrapes from flying glass and debris.
Hayes suffered a severe brain bleed, facial fractures and skull fracture from which he did not recover.
If convicted, Sauls faces two to 20 years for intoxication manslaughter and two to 10 years for intoxication assault. Sauls is being held in the Bowie County jail with bail set at $300,000.
