A Texarkana woman who ran over and killed her boyfriend while under the influence of alcohol received a 20-year sentence Friday as part of a plea bargain.
Tammy Dawn Tholl, 42, entered pleas of guilty Friday afternoon to intoxication manslaughter and driving while intoxicated, third or more offense, at a hearing before 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart. Tholl’s attorney, Bowie County Chief Public Defender Rick Shumaker and Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said the state agreed to reduce a charge of murder to intoxication manslaughter.
Crisp said that after a thorough review of the case her office determined intoxication manslaughter the appropriate charge. Tholl pleaded to the maximum 20-year punishment allowed for the offense. Tholl also received a 10-year sentence for felony DWI. Lockhart ordered that the two sentences will be served at the same time.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Tholl left the scene Sept. 27 after allegedly running over 61-year-old Mark Anthony Murray with a white 2012 Nissan Maxima on Country Paradise Circle in Wake Village. Texas Dept. of Public Safety Trooper Chad Turner arrested Tholl after finding her at her estranged husband’s home in Texarkana Texas.
Tholl allegedly failed field sobriety tests and showed a .13 blood alcohol level on a portable breathalyzer test, putting her well above the .08 level at which drivers are considered impaired.
Lockhart gave Tholl credit for the time she has spent in jail since her arrest. She will be held in the Bowie County jail until she is transported to a unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
