DWI HIT PARADE: DUI manslaughter nets Daniel Juwan Butler plea deal for six years in prison for the crash that killed Taylor Halbleib on Rt. 6 but only served four years 

DWI HIT PARADE: DUI manslaughter, homicide Daniel Juwan Butler for the crash that killed Taylor Halbleib on Rt. 6

 

From MADD volunteer Patty Arnold-Halbleib describing her daughter who was killed by a drunk firefighter from Newburg, Maryland

On December 7, 2017, our lives changed forever.  We had been planning our Christmas celebration and festivities knowing that we would be with family and friends enjoying warm smiles, stories of past gatherings and looking forward to a holiday full of love and laughter.  That all changed in the blink of an eye. At approximately 2:40 AM, we were awakened by a phone call from a friend of our daughter Taylor. 

Sounding frantic, she disclosed that Taylor had been involved in a horrible crash. As we arrived at the accident location, it was clear that a serious crash had occurred.  We were desperately trying to find Taylor and ask questions to anyone who would listen.  It was clear, in the demeanor of law enforcement and emergency personnel and in their eyes, that they didn’t want to give us the news.  After arriving at the hospital and waiting for what seemed like an eternity, we were told that our little girl was gone.  They had tried everything they could, but her injuries were just too catastrophic.

Later, we learned that Taylor had been working at her job at the liquor store.  Two firefighters decided to stop at the store for beer on their way home after they had been drinking heavily at another bar earlier that evening. While closing the store, the men had waited outside in the parking lot for her to leave.  They began to subject Taylor to taunts and unwanted flirtation which scared Taylor and caused her to flee the parking lot and head home. While at a red light behind another vehicle, Taylor was hit from behind by these men in a pickup truck at almost 70 mph, causing her vehicle to strike the vehicle in front of her. This killed Taylor instantly.

The impact of losing Taylor at 21 years old has been so painful.  I could try to describe the ugliness and emptiness but would never be able to adequately describe this awful pain.  Only someone who has lost a child would understand.  What once was a family who loved Christmas, is now a family that can’t wait for Christmas to end.  We miss our Taylor, we miss her smile, her kindness, gentleness, her love of animals.  We miss her warmth, and the way she cared for people who were less fortunate.

UPDATE – Charges filed and arrest for fatal crash on 12/07/2017

Type of Incident: Motor Vehicle Collision (Fatal) – Charges filed and arrest

Date and Time: 12/7/2017 @ 0239 hours

Location: MD Rt. 6 west of Cooksey Road, Newburg, Charles, Maryland

(Newburg, Maryland) – On Friday, June 01, 2018, Corporal J. Zimmerman of the Maryland State

Police CRASH Team presented the facts of the investigation for the fatal collision that occurred on December 07, 2017, in Charles County, Maryland to the Grand Jury for Charles County, Maryland.

On Friday, June 01, 2018, the Grand Jury for Charles County issued a bench warrant for Daniel Juwan Butler of Newburg, Maryland for the following charges:

Count 1 – Grossly Negligent Manslaughter by Vehicle

Count 2 – Negligent Homicide by Vehicle while under the influence of alcohol

Count 3 – Negligent Homicide by Vehicle while under the influence of alcohol per se

Count 4 – Driving under the influence of alcohol per se

Count 5 – Driving under the influence of alcohol

On Friday, June 01, 2018, at approximately 1644 hours, Troopers from the Maryland State Police La Plata Barrack took Daniel Juwan Butler into custody without incident and he was transported to the Charles County Detention Center and held pending a bond review.

The Maryland State Police CRASH Team was assisted with the investigation (17-MSP-052007) by Troopers from the Maryland State Police La Plata Barrack, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office and the Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Newburg VRSFD Lt. Daniel Juwan Butler

 

 

UPDATE: Daniel Juwan Butler is a Lieutenant with the Newburg Volunteer Rescue Squad and Fire Department, his passenger in the truck that killed Taylor Halbleib, Logan Shifflett, is also a firefighter at Newburg.

NBC 4 NEWS reports that the men who were in the pickup that killed Halbleib had been seen trying to talk to her as she left the bar in La Plata when she got off work.  (see video below)

LA PLATA, MD – Maryland State Police reports that booze and speed on the part of the driver of a pickup truck is a factor in his causing a crash that killed another driver on Md. Rt. 6 at Cooksey Road.

Police are investigating the three-vehicle collision that claimed the life of a woman driving eastbound on MD Rt. 6, west of Cooksey Road in Charles County, Md., on Dec. 7, 2017.

The deceased victim is identified as Taylor Anne Halbleib, 21, of Corinthicu Court, Hughesville, Md.  She was transported to the University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center, where she succumbed to her injuries. Halbleib was driving a blue 2013 Hyundai Elantra.

The driver of the vehicle that was struck by the Hyundai is identified as Brittany Camille Coggins, 24, of La Plata, MD. She was the sole occupant, driving a silver Honda Odyssey van. Coggins was not injured in the collision.

The vehicle at fault in the collision was driven by Daniel Juwan Butler, 22, of Newburg, MD. Butler was driving a black 2004 Ford F-150. He was injured in the crash and transported to the University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center.