Woman accused of killing pedestrian in Montrose had BAC 4 times legal limit: Court records

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Monday, April 24, 2023
Woman had BAC 4 times legal limit in deadly crash, court records say
Kristina Chambers is charged with intoxication manslaughter after officials say she killed Joseph McMullin and had a BAC four times the legal limit.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The 32-year-old driver accused of hitting and killing a man who was on his first date has been charged with intoxication manslaughter.

According to court documents, Kristina Chambers' blood alcohol content level was four times the legal limit when she hit the victim, identified as Joseph McMullin.

The crash happened on Wednesday, April 19 at about 2:30 a.m. on Westheimer near Waugh in front of a Voodoo Doughnut shop in Montrose.

Police said Chambers may have been going around 100 miles an hour before the crash.

Video officers saw of the crash apparently showed the woman behind the wheel of a Porsche going so fast, she couldn't navigate the curve on Westheimer, which led her to hit the curb and then McMullin, who was with his date.

"We had gone to karaoke at AvantGarden. When we got out, the taco truck was closed, but he knew Voodoo would be opened," Briana Iturrino, the woman on the date, said. "He asked if I wanted to take my car. I said, 'Well it's not that far, we can walk. Fresh air.'"

The couple had just left the doughnut shop and were on the sidewalk when Iturrino said she saw the Porsche coming at them very fast. She told police she saw a flash and then tried to find McMullin.

"I felt something graze my hip. I don't know whether it was the car grazing my hip, or Joe's foot as he flew by. Immediately, I was like, 'Where's Joe?'" Iturrino recalled.

Iturrino said she got on the phone with 911, and the dispatcher asked her to perform CPR until paramedics arrived.

McMullin died at the scene.

"He really loved music. It was one of the things we bonded over," Iturrino said of her date.

She said their first date was actually supposed to be on Friday, but the man knew there would be a karaoke event on Tuesday and knew she liked to sing.

"He said he wouldn't sing, but he wanted to hear me sing," Iturrino said.

Police say the car slammed into the man then continued for a short distance before running into a utility pole.

There were three people in the Porsche, and Chambers was allegedly behind the wheel. Another woman was in the front passenger seat and a man in the backseat.

The two women were stable, and the man was unconscious when first responders took him from the scene.

Police said Chambers showed signs of impairment.

A witness who works at a bar nearby was at the scene and said he has seen his fair share of car accidents in this area.

"It's hard to see someone out on a date, and this happens. We went back inside and called our families and told them we loved them," he said.

McMullin, according to Iturrino, was getting his master's degree in supply chain management.

"I know he loved his family. He said he spent the weekend with them in Galveston. He was so sweet. He smiled throughout the entire date. He didn't deserve to go like that. He didn't deserve to go at all," she added.

Court records show that Chambers was arrested on the day of the crash at 5:15 a.m.

The state requested $50,000 bail, calling Chambers a "clear danger to the community."

The video above is from our previous reporting on this story.

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