Driver in fatal wreck had 3 DWI convictions

HOUSTON Eyewitness News has discovered some new information about how drunk Womack may have been at the time of the wreck.

Preliminary blood test results from Womack show's he had a blood-alcohol content of .35 when a sample was taken at the hospital sometime after the wreck, deputies said. That's more than four times the legal limit, and this is the fourth time he's been in trouble with the law for drinking and driving, deputies said.

"Nobody expects to lose a 6-year-old child -- not like that," Makaylin's aunt, Jennifer Edwards, said.

"We are all distraught," cousin Jerome Whitfield said. "You don't look for things like this to happen."

Makaylin was walking down Cossey Road near Huffsmith Kohrville with her 4-year-old sister and her grandmother Monday night when Womack had just left the Bimbo's Biker Bar down the street, Harris County Sheriff's deputies said.

He was speeding, lost control of his SUV, attempted to overcorrect and flipped, deputies said.

"My sister-in-law's arm got hit," Edwards said. "She was trying to get the kids out of the way. She managed to get the 4 year old out of the way. She wasn't able to save the six year old."

Makaylin was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Womack was flown to Memorial Hermann Hospital in critical condition.

Womack was driving on a suspended license which was part of his sentence from a third DWI conviction in 2008, deputies said. The ignition interlock on his vehicle was removed in February of this year.

He was also convicted of drunk driving in 1997 and 1978.

Eyewitness News legal analyst Joel Androphy said that even though Texas law says a third DWI is a felony, Womack plea bargained to a misdemeanor. As part of the plea, he served one year in jail, two years of probation and his license was suspended for two years.

"In this community and in other communities, you don't get really punished until you commit the third or fourth DWI," Androphy said.

Womack is charged with intoxication manslaughter. If convicted, he faces 2 to 20 years in prison.

Makaylin's family said he simply should not have been on the road.

"I didn't know that -- that is a shocker," Edwards said. "He shouldn't even been driving."

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is investigating the bar.

Womack is scheduled to make his first court appearance Wednesday, but that will most likely be re-scheduled since he is still in the hospital in critical condition. He currently has a $50,000 bond.

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