NEW BOSTON, Texas: A Bowie County jury sentenced a man to probation Thursday for manslaughter in connection with a Sept. 11, 2018, crash in Bowie County that took the life of a nurse and mother of two.
Adrian Severn Blood, 27, was traveling at speeds of more than 125 miles per hour on U.S. Highway 82 between Malta and DeKalb, Texas, at approximately 6:30 a.m. Sept. 11, 2018. Blood was on his way to his home in Avery, Texas, in Red River County from a methadone clinic in Texarkana, Ark., and was under the influence of methadone and Xanax at the time.
The jury deliberated approximately six hours Thursday before sentencing Blood to 10 years probation and imposing a $10,000 fine. Fifth District Judge Bill Miller ordered Blood to serve 150 days in the county jail as a condition of probation and Blood was taken into custody Thursday.
Assistant District Attorney Katie Carter argued that while Blood couldn’t control the fact that it was dark and raining, he intentionally chose to drive at a dangerous speed while under the influence of methadone and Xanax. Blood did not have a prescription for Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug though a Xanax pill was found in his car after the crash and he tested postive for it after the crash.
“He can’t control that it’s dark and he can’t control when it rains but he could control everything else,” Carter argued.
Blood was driving a gray 2017 Chevrolet Impala when he made impact with the rear of a 2013 Impala driven by Amanda Gardner-Hawkins. Hawkins, 35, a registered nurse, was on her way to her home in DeKalb from her job at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston when she was struck, less than two miles from her home.
The impact caused severe injuries to Gardner-Hawkins and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Carter referred to testimony from Gardner-Hawkins husband, Shaynne Hawkins, during her arguments Thursday. She told the jury Hawkins doesn’t believe the maximum 20-year sentence is enough.
Blood’s attorney, Heath Hyde of Sulphur Springs, argued that Blood is young and deserves a second chance because he was trying to get help for his addiction to heroin by seeking methadone treatment.
Hyde argued that Hyde was a “good kid” who became addicted to “the devil’s poison” and asked the jury to give him a second chance.
