The rich Texas housewife accused of plowing into and killing a person on a primary date whereas drunk and excessive claims her costly excessive heels bought caught on the fuel pedal of her Porsche 911 Carrera.
Kristina Chambers, 34, went on trial Friday for manslaughter in reference to the April 2023 crash that killed 33-year-old Joseph McMullin as he and his date have been leaving a Voodoo Doughnut store in Houston.
Prosecutors allege Chambers had been bar-hopping with mates that evening, was 4 instances over the authorized alcohol restrict, and had small baggies of cocaine in her automotive and purse, in accordance with the Houston Chronicle.
However her lawyer, Mark Thiessen, argued her designer sneakers induced the deadly crash.
Thiessen claims his purchasers costly Christian Louboutin heels had gotten caught on the fuel pedal of her Porsche as she drover down “certainly one of Houston’s most harmful curves.”
Nonetheless, prosecutors Andrew Figliuzzi refuted the argument to the jury — believing Chambers was “itching to indicate off her sports activities automotive” to her two mates contained in the Porsche on the time of the deadly wreck.
About an hour after the crash, Chambers registered a blood alcohol degree of .301, practically 4 instances the authorized restrict, the Houston Chronicle reported, citing medical data.
Audio tech Briana Iturrino, who was on a date with McMullin that evening, instructed the court docket they’d simply left Voodoo Doughnuts round 2:25 a.m. when she noticed blinding headlights barreling straight at them.
Iturrino testified that she realized the speedy sports activities automotive — estimated to be touring over 70 mph on the time of affect — was about to make a pointy flip straight towards them.
Within the blink of a watch, the Porsche whipped previous, lacking Iturrino by inches — and when she turned to shout a warning to McMullin, he had vanished.
“I believed he had gotten out of the way in which, as a result of I couldn’t discover him,” Iturrino mentioned.
Iturrino mentioned she felt one thing brush towards her hip, which she first thought was the automotive, however later realized was McMullin being thrown about 30 toes as Chambers drove on and slammed right into a pole.
She then known as 911 and a dispatcher instructed her to carry out CPR till paramedics arrived, however McMullin died on the scene.
Chambers and her two passengers have been injured within the wreck.
The overall supervisor of the close by Slick Willie’s pool corridor, Alfredo Ponce, additionally testified, telling the court docket he heard the crash and ran exterior to assist, the outlet reported.
“I’ve seen so many accidents on that highway,” Ponce mentioned. “Each time, I get out and assist whoever wants assist and is injured.”
Ponce testified that the crash was one of many worst he had seen and mentioned when he reached the sports activities automotive to assist these inside he remembered it reeked of alcohol.
Chambers was charged with manslaughter in McMullin’s loss of life. She has pleaded not responsible, with prosecutors alleging she was driving at an extreme velocity and misplaced management of her automobile.
Within the two years since her arrest, Chambers’ case has seen a string of authorized battles.
A wrongful loss of life lawsuit filed by McMullin’s dad and mom towards Chambers in June 2023 stays pending.
The go well with additionally partly blames Chambers’ former companion — hedge fund supervisor, Xuan Si, who filed for divorce from her simply days after she was launched on bail — for buying the posh sports activities automotive simply months earlier than the deadly crash.
Nonetheless, Si has denied buying the sports activities automotive for his ex-wife, claiming as a substitute that she purchased the automotive herself utilizing money from their joint account.
Si additionally denied that his spouse had a consuming downside, and mentioned he had by no means seen her devour medication or drive drunk.
Sebastian Lopez — an in depth pal who was using with Chambers the evening of the deadly crash — described her as an “alcoholic” in his deposition and claimed Si knew she frequently drank and did medication.
He added that she’d pushed drunk “a handful” of instances, even after getting the posh Porsche.
McMullins grieving dad and mom are looking for over $1 million in compensation for his or her son’s loss of life.
Legal professionals in Chambers’ felony trial have been forbidden from mentioning the explosive claims within the civil lawsuit, which is slated for an April court docket date.
