KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — The man convicted on Friday by a Kaufman County jury to manslaughter with a deadly weapon and two counts of aggravated assault for a December 9, 2012, vehicle accident that killed one and seriously injured two entered a plea of guilty in an agreement with the state.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — The man convicted on Friday by a Kaufman County jury to manslaughter with a deadly weapon and two counts of aggravated assault for a December 9, 2012, vehicle accident that killed one and seriously injured two entered a plea of guilty in an agreement with the state.
31-year-old John Allen English pled guilty this morning to manslaughter with a deadly weapon and the two counts of aggravated assault in exchange for a 40 year prison sentence on each charge and a $5,000 fee in the manslaughter charge. English also pled true to enhancements on each charge due to a prior conviction for possession of a controlled substance which enhanced each charge, second-degree felonies, to first-degree felonies.
Per the agreement, English also waived his right to appeal. The 40 year sentences will be served concurrently and English will be eligible for parole in 20 years, according to Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Marc Moffitt.
“We feel with him waiving appeal, you don’t take a chance with anything else or an appeal,” said Moffitt told inForney.com in regards to the agreement. “He’s done and he’s gone.”
“We’re satisfied with [the sentence], it being close to the maximum [sentence] anyways,” he said.
The 2012 accident resulted in the death of English’s girlfriend, 21-year-old Whittney Crawford, and seriously injured then-Kaufman County deputy Tyler Wiggins, and his wife, Kaufman area attorney Michelle Cheney. Their daughter was also injured in the accident.
English was driving a Toyota 4Runner southbound on Farm-to-Market (FM) 987 a few miles north of Kaufman when he crossed the center line of the road and struck a Honda Pilot driven by Wiggins and occupied by Cheney and their daughter. Crawford, a passenger in the 4Runner, was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Justin Schuman testified last week the accident was the result of English and Crawford engaging in some sort of sexual act prior to the accident and also the intoxication of English. Urine tests at Parkland Memorial Hospital during English’s treatment indicated, and later confirmed at a secondary testing facility, a positive presence of cannabinoids and a high level of amphetamines, or methamphetamines.
English will be turned over to the custody of the Texas Department of Corrections.