HOUSTON -- One mile south of the Highway 6 location where the daughter of a Cy-Fair fire captain was killed by a suspected drunken driver last week, two other crosses sit as a silent reminder of another family s tragedy.
Investigators say Thomas Christopher Boyd, 41, was driving drunk with his headlights off on February 11 as he traveled north on Highway 6 near West Road. He broadsided the car driven by Krysta Rodriguez s boyfriend as they turned from the southbound lanes into a Whataburger driveway, police said. Boyd s car hit the passenger side, where 22-year-old Rodriguez was sitting, police said. She died at the scene.
Boyd was not injured and has been charged with intoxication manslaughter.
The drinking and driving stuff has got to stop guys, Rodriguez s father, Mark Rodriguez said as he was joined by 200 friends and family placing a cross near the site where his daughter died. It's got to stop, this is ridiculous. You can't do this to people's families.
Two other crosses on the same side of Highway 6 at Longenbaugh Road were placed in memory of Christie and Kevin Bordelon, Ron Harris daughter and son-in-law.
It's devastating. I mean I cried, said Harris after watching Mark Rodriguez's story on television. But I had a strange kind of connection with him.
Ineka Marble, driving with a blood-alcohol level that authorities say was three times the legal limit, broadsided the Bordelons as they crossed Highway 6. The young husband and wife died instantly. Investigators say they found the couple in their demolished car still holding hands.
The feelings that he's got right now are not going to go away, Harris said. He is going to be thinking about this every single day.
My heart goes out to him, Harris said.
Harris said he also hopes the Rodriguez family can experience the relatively quick justice the Harris and Bordelon families expect to get next month. Marble has pled guilty to two counts of intoxication manslaughter.
A jury is scheduled to determine her fate on March 1. The standard sentencing range for intoxication manslaughter is 2 to 10 years. Marble reportedly turned down a plea agreement for 18 years.
The crash happened the day after Christmas 2008. Marble s sentencing is scheduled to happen 14 months later.
DWI suspects sometimes receive delays that allow their cases to linger for two to five years. Last year, 11 News profiled the case of Robert Joseph Lewis in Conroe. He was finally sentenced for a fatal DWI crash after 2.5 years of legal wrangling.
So while Ron Harris offers his advice, his condolences and his shoulder to Mark Rodriguez for the pain the two now share, he also offers advice to the man now charged with the death of Krysta Rodriguez:
Take your punishment. Go to jail. Serve your time, Harris said. Come back out and perhaps send a message to other people don't drink and drive.
Funeral services for Krysta Rodriguez will be held Tuesday at Bear Creek United Methodist Church.
