BOERNE — A Boerne motorist accused of texting while high on drugs received a 50-year sentence in connection with a September 2023 head-on collision that killed a 60-year-old woman.
Christopher Darrin Marshall, 39, pleaded guilty Oct. 11 to a charge of intoxication manslaughter and was sentenced by 451st District Court Judge Kirsten Cohoon.
Based on an affirmative finding of a deadly weapon, Marshall will serve at least half of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole, prosecutors said.
According to court records, Marshall was traveling east on FM 473 when his vehicle crossed over the center line into oncoming traffic, striking an auto driven by Brenda Babcock, who was headed to work in Comfort.
Babcock died at the scene, investigators said.
Investigators with the Department of Public Safety said Marshall was using his cellphone and sending a text message just seconds before the collision.
His vehicle traveled at 71 mph when it crossed into oncoming traffic five seconds before the crash, according to Trooper Robert Laferney.
At the time of the impact, Marshall’s auto’s speed was 58 mph in the 60 mph zone, according to court records.
Laferney said when he arrived at the scene, he observed Marshall’s demeanor to be “manic, confused and agitated,” according to records.
Laferney said a witness who arrived at the site just after the tragic mishap reported Marshall’s “eyes were off”; the witness also “had a pretty good feeling that the driver was under the influence,” the trooper said.
The witness told officers Marshall “kept screaming for drugs and that his leg was broken,” according to Laferney.
A glass pipe containing less than a gram of methamphetamine and a pouch containing marijuana, labeled as “Coconut Runty,” were in Marshall’s vehicle at the time of the collision, prosecutors said.
Laferney also found a vape pen labeled “FRYD Extracts” in Marshall’s pants pocket that lab testing confirmed to have 1.5 grams of Delta-9 THC oil, a chemical in cannabis and hemp products that can lead to intoxication.
Marshall was rushed to the hospital to be treated for injuries, investigators said.
Later, blood toxicology reports confirmed he tested positive for Delta-9 THC and methamphetamine while he was behind the wheel, investigators said.
This was not Marshall’s first brush with the law, according to court records. He was out on bond for possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) between 1 and 4 grams, a felony out of Comal County.
According to prosecutors, Marshall had a prior conviction in 2009 for sexual assault in Kendall County; on that charge he was sentenced to 10 years.
In addition, authorities said, he was also convicted of possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) 1-4 grams, and prohibited substance in a correctional facility in Gonzalez County in 2017, and subsequently was assessed a five-year prison sentence.
Assistant criminal district attorneys Alessandra Deike and Derly Chapa prosecuted the latest case in Cohoon’s court.
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