MARTINEZ
by JEN BIUNDO
Two years after the fatal wreck that claimed the life of 25-year-old Rebecca Ann Stuckey, the drunk driver who killed her has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
A Hays County jury deliberated less than 30 minutes before convicting Austin resident Miranda Martinez, 24, of intoxication manslaughter.
In addition to the prison term, Martinez must also pay a $5,000 fine.
Investigators on the scene said the accident occurred at about 2:50 a.m. on April 2, 2008 when Martinez, then 21 years old, was driving the wrong way into oncoming traffic on IH-35.
Martinez had been driving down the two-way access road, and entered the southbound lanes of IH-35 by driving onto the interstate via the 217 exit ramp near Kyle. Her 1994 Acura Sedan collided head-on with Stuckey’s 2000 Jeep.
Both women were transported to University Medical Center at Brackenridge. Stuckey died that day. Martinez was listed in critical condition on her arrival, but was soon upgraded to fair condition.
A subsequent blood test showed that Martinez had a blood-alcohol content of .26, more than three times the legal limit.
“This case illustrates the consequences of drinking and driving,” said Hays County District Attorney Sherri Tibbe. “It is our hope that the jury’s verdict will cause people to think twice before making the decision to get behind the wheel when they have had too much to drink.”
Stuckey was born in Sherman, Texas and graduated from Collinsville High School, where she was active in 4-H, FFA, horseback riding and basketball. She was a member of the Red River Belles Equestrian Drill Team and was the 1995 Whitesboro Rodeo Queen. At the time of her death, she was living in the Wimberley area and attending Austin Community College.
The two-way access roads have lead to a number of accidents in recent years, including multiple fatalities. Some wrecks occur when drivers on the frontage roads don’t realize they have to yield to motorists entering or exiting the interstate.
The two-way frontage roads also make it possible for drivers, typically intoxicated, to enter the interstate via the on-ramp. In a similar incident, a drunk driver was killed last August while driving the wrong way up the interstate through Kyle.
This spring, the Texas Department of Transportation converted the access roads from FM 2001 to Kyle Parkway from two-way to one-way, with plans to convert the remainder of the two-way access roads in Hays County in the coming years.
