Texas Digest: Clark Gable's grandson died of overdose in Dallas
Staff , Austin American-Statesman
DALLAS \n Clark Gable's grandson died of overdose \n A medical examiner says the grandson of actor Clark Gable died of an accidental drug overdose. \n The Dallas County Medical Examiner's office says an…
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Austin American-Statesman
DALLAS

Clark Gable's grandson died of overdose

A medical examiner says the grandson of actor Clark Gable died of an accidental drug overdose.

The Dallas County Medical Examiner's office says an autopsy found Clark James Gable III was killed by a combination of the opioids fentanyl and oxycodone, and the sedative alprazolam. It ruled his death an accident.

Gable died in February. The 30-year-old lived in Dallas and hosted the reality TV show "Cheaters," which featured confrontations with people suspected of infidelity. He is survived by his fiancée and their infant daughter.

Gable's death was among the latest in a national opioid crisis that the Centers for Disease Control says claimed 48,000 lives in 2017.

GALVESTON

2nd man gets life in double slaying

A second man must serve life in prison for his role in the 2011 slayings of a father and his 15-year-old daughter at their Houston-area home during a robbery.

Prosecutors in Galveston say Broderick Dewayne Batiste was convicted Tuesday of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without chance for parole.

Jorge and Miranda Vargas were fatally shot while at their Texas City home, described by police as a drug-distribution house known to have cash and other valuables.

A co-defendant, Dominique Stokes, last year pleaded guilty to the November 2011 slayings and was sentenced to life in prison without chance for parole.

Prosecutors linked Stokes to several crimes, including kidnapping and robbery, in Austin and Temple during December 2011. Jewelry from the Vargas robbery was pawned in Austin.

TEXARKANA

Retired Army officer gets prison in guns case

A retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and convicted felon must serve 18 months in federal prison for having dozens of guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition in Texas.

Robert D. Whittington III was sentenced Thursday in Texarkana. Whittington pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.

Officers in March 2018 raided Whittington's home in Hooks, 150 miles northeast of Dallas. Authorities found more than 100 firearms and 19,000 rounds of ammunition.

Prosecutors say Whittington in 2011 was convicted of terrorizing in Bossier Parish, La., over threatening letters and a deer-hunting camp. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

LAREDO

4 sentenced for hunting from helicopter

A rancher and a pilot are among four men sentenced to one year of probation and fined for a 2017 South Texas trip using a helicopter to hunt and kill exotic animals.

A federal judge in Laredo on Wednesday sentenced 36-year-old Cody Morganthaler of Oklahoma and three men from Laredo — 33-year-old Edelmiro Martinez, 39-year-old Eduardo Lopez and 56-year-old Inocente Sanchez.

Prosecutors say Martinez owned Laredo Hunting Resort. Sanchez flies helicopters. Lopez helped organize the $12,000 hunt in which Morganthaler killed four antelope and sheep, on the ground and from the air.

All pleaded guilty to violating federal law that bans using aircraft to shoot animals for sport or trophy hunting.

Morganthaler, Martinez, and Lopez must pay $5,000 fines. The pilot was fined $2,500.

LAREDO

2 sentenced in migrant smuggling that led to 2 deaths

Two Guatemalan men have been sentenced to federal prison for their parts in an immigrant-smuggling run that led to the deaths of two Ecuadoran men.

A Justice Department statement says 23-year-old Melvin L. Barahona-Godoy was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison Wednesday in Laredo, while 29-year-old Yoryi Alexis Perez drew a 6½-year prison term. Both had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to illegally transport immigrants resulting in death. Both will be subject to deportation after completing their prison terms.

Federal officials at a Laredo residence on Oct. 21, 2017, found nine immigrants who were in the country illegally, one of whom was Barahona-Godoy. They say interviews established that Barahona-Godoy and Perez had guided the group across the Rio Grande the previous month. Two people drowned during the crossing.

WARREN

1 killed, several hurt in church bus crash

A church bus crashed on an East Texas highway, killing one person and injuring several others.

The crash happened about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday just outside the town of Warren, Texas, about 80 miles northeast of Houston. The Texas Department of Public Safety says that a car pulled out from a driveway in front of the First Baptist Church of Warren bus, causing the bus driver to swerve and lose control. The bus veered off the road and struck a tree.

The Department of Public Safety says the person who died was an adult passenger. It says the driver, another adult passenger and six children were taken to hospitals.

The department says the adults suffered serious injuries, but the children did not.

The Associated Press