DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
MATTHEW LEWALLEN
MARBLE FALLS — Police charged a 26-year-old Burnet man with intoxication manslaughter for the death of a Granite Shoals woman after tests determined the suspect’s blood-alcohol content was three times over the legal limit.
Matthew Lewallen was booked into the Burnet County Jail on Oct. 15 for intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle. The charge stems from a deadly accident Sept. 21 in the 1400 block of U.S. 281 about 2:20 a.m. in Marble Falls.
Marble Falls Police Sgt. Barry Greer said Lewallen was driving a 2003 Chevy Silverado pickup heading north on the highway when it crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with a Ford Explorer driven by Sandra Hart, 47, of Granite Shoals.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Hart died at the scene.
Emergency crews transported Lewallen to Seton Highland Lakes Hospital in Burnet for evaluation after the accident, but, at the time, officers said they would have to wait until the blood-alcohol test results came back before they made any charges. But soon after the accident, Greer said officers believed alcohol was involved.
In the arrest warrant affidavit filed by Marble Falls Police officer Dorian Turner, Lewallen’s hospital records showed he had a blood-alcohol limit of three times the legal limit, which is .08 blood-alcohol content.
Turner, who was a responding officer to the accident, stated in the affidavit that after fire crews freed Lewallen from the vehicle, the man was conscious “but not aware of how the crashed happened or of his surroundings.”
“During my contact with him, I smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath, his speech was slurred, the whites of his eyes were really red (bloodshot), and he said he had consumed two beers,” the documented continued.
Dorian stated in the affidavit that his belief was the suspect’s intoxication level led to the collision that caused Hart’s death.
Hart was by herself, while Lewallen had a passenger in his pickup. The passenger, Matthew King, 23, of Kyle was arrested at the time of the accident and charged with public intoxication.
Lewallen was released later the same day after posting a $7,500 cash bond.
daniel@thepicayune.com
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