WHITE SETTLEMENT (WBAP/KLIF News ) – The man awaiting trial for a driving while intoxicated crash that killed a local teenager in 2022 committed suicide last week.
In a Friday news release, White Settlement police said officers responded to a report of a suicide in the 9100 block of Nathan Drive at 4:11 a.m. on Saturday, August 31.
The caller told 911 dispatch a man, who officers identified as Donald Gruber, fatally shot himself in the front yard.
Gruber was scheduled to appear in court this month regarding the criminal cases of Intoxication Manslaughter and Intoxication Assault in connection to the death of 18-year-old Katey Kirkland on August 7, 2022.
She was killed and her father, Kevin Kirkland, was injured when Gruber allegedly lost control of the truck before entering the backyard of the Kirkland home on Jason Court and crashing through several bedrooms of the house.
Prosecutors said that Gruber’s companion, Peggy Cox, contributed to the crash by grabbing the steering wheel before the truck entered the backyard.
Cox is also facing Intoxication Manslaughter and Intoxication Assault charges. A Fort Worth restaurant, The Point at Lake Worth, is accused of over-serving alcohol to the couple.
Kevin Kirkland and his wife Amy filed a $1 million lawsuit against Donald Gruber and Peggy Cox in March 2023.
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