A Bexar County jury found a San Antonio man guilty of multiple felonies in a fatal crash nearly a decade ago.
Jurors convicted James Arthur Kearns, 47, of intoxication manslaughter, manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid. Each charge is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Jurors deliberated for two hours after seven days of testimony. The case now moves to the punishment phase, where jurors will determine Kearns’ sentence.
State District Judge Benjamin Robertson ordered Kearns held overnight until proceedings resume the next day.
Karlton Walker, 50, was killed March 14, 2017, in the 9600 block of San Pedro Avenue. Kearns’ trial began last Tuesday and was his second; his first ended in a mistrial in 2021.
During closing arguments, prosecutor Nick Mahrou held out 25 feet of measuring tape to show jurors how far Walker was thrown by the impact. Walker suffered multiple fatal injuries and landed at a nearby bus stop.
“The reality is that Karlton Walker was standing on the sidewalk when this intoxicated man drove up on it, spearing him in the chest, breaking his leg, sending his ribs inward, puncturing his lung, caving in his face and internally decapitating him,” Mahrou said.
Police said Kearns left the crash scene and pulled into a nearby gas station, where he bought a coffee.
A San Antonio police report says an officer smelled alcohol on Kearns’ breath. Prosecutors said Kearns told police he had consumed three or four vodka waters.
Kearns refused a breath test at the scene. A test conducted about two hours later showed his blood alcohol concentration was 0.09, above Texas’ legal limit of 0.08 for drivers.
Prosecutors said investigators found tire marks but no skid marks at the scene, which they argued showed Kearns had not braked before the crash.
They also argued he tried to conceal his intoxication by buying coffee after leaving the scene.
“There was talk (in the trial) about how normal motor vehicle accidents are in our community…just because something is common does not make it normal,” Mahrou said. “The moment we normalize drunken driving and killing pedestrians on the sidewalk, no one is safe.”
Defense attorney Brent Delapaz questioned the police investigation, arguing that officers did not try to determine whether the tire marks came from Kearns’ vehicle.
Delapaz also pointed to medications found in Walker’s system, arguing that Walker could have been “spaced out” before his death.