2008 Woodie Awards
UST student convicted of manslaughter
Sophomore faces jail, probation in drunk driving-related death
Amber Chemam
Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: Front Page
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A UST student was convicted of intoxication manslaughter on Oct. 9 and will serve four months in a county jail, the minimum jail sentence required for her conviction.
Sophomore Elizabeth Shelton was charged last year after her boyfriend, Matthew McNiece of Bellaire, Texas, was killed in a car accident on Oct 23, 2006.
Shelton, 20, was driving a Lexus sports utility vehicle and traveling southbound on the 2300 block of Southwest Freeway when she lost control and struck the rear corner of a Ford F-650 commercial truck.
Shelton was also ordered to serve eight years of probation and to pay a $10,000 fine. If she violates her probation, she could serve a five-year prison sentence. So that she could finish the fall semester at UST, the judge gave Shelton until five days before Christmas before she must begin serving her jail sentence.
Defense attorney George "Mac" Seacrest requested that Shelton be allowed to serve jail time on the weekends, but it was unclear whether State District Judge Richard Mays, who presided over the case, would allow that.
Defense attorneys claimed, during the seven-day trial, that the truck had swerved into Shelton's lane just prior to the collision, but eyewitnesses to the accident disputed that account.
According to police reports, Shelton's vehicle fishtailed and swerved across two lanes of traffic before colliding with the box truck. The truck driver, Lance Bennett, testified that he never changed lanes.
Witnesses also reported that McNiece was hanging his body out of the passenger window and waving his arms at the time of the accident. Tests later determined that he was also intoxicated.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the couple had been drinking at a condominium near UST and was traveling home around 2 a.m. when the collision occurred.
Shelton was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital after the accident, where she was treated for minor cuts and a head injury.
Hospital officials also took a blood sample, as a part of the standard procedure for accidents involving serious injury or death, and Shelton's blood alcohol level was found to be more than three times the legal limit. One test measured her BAC at 0.26 and another read 0.28.
Sophomore Elizabeth Shelton was charged last year after her boyfriend, Matthew McNiece of Bellaire, Texas, was killed in a car accident on Oct 23, 2006.
Shelton, 20, was driving a Lexus sports utility vehicle and traveling southbound on the 2300 block of Southwest Freeway when she lost control and struck the rear corner of a Ford F-650 commercial truck.
Shelton was also ordered to serve eight years of probation and to pay a $10,000 fine. If she violates her probation, she could serve a five-year prison sentence. So that she could finish the fall semester at UST, the judge gave Shelton until five days before Christmas before she must begin serving her jail sentence.
Defense attorney George "Mac" Seacrest requested that Shelton be allowed to serve jail time on the weekends, but it was unclear whether State District Judge Richard Mays, who presided over the case, would allow that.
Defense attorneys claimed, during the seven-day trial, that the truck had swerved into Shelton's lane just prior to the collision, but eyewitnesses to the accident disputed that account.
According to police reports, Shelton's vehicle fishtailed and swerved across two lanes of traffic before colliding with the box truck. The truck driver, Lance Bennett, testified that he never changed lanes.
Witnesses also reported that McNiece was hanging his body out of the passenger window and waving his arms at the time of the accident. Tests later determined that he was also intoxicated.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the couple had been drinking at a condominium near UST and was traveling home around 2 a.m. when the collision occurred.
Shelton was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital after the accident, where she was treated for minor cuts and a head injury.
Hospital officials also took a blood sample, as a part of the standard procedure for accidents involving serious injury or death, and Shelton's blood alcohol level was found to be more than three times the legal limit. One test measured her BAC at 0.26 and another read 0.28.