LOSS FOR CLASS OF 1992

Keep in touch with some of you buddies after you have left the hallowed halls...
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akindergartenmom
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Posts: 27
Joined: Fri Apr 28, 2006 7:37 pm
If Mike has 13 apples, and gives six to Jane, how many does he have left?: 13
Location: Tyrone, PA

LOSS FOR CLASS OF 1992

Post by akindergartenmom »

I'm not sure how many of you graduated in 1992, but I just wanted to let you know that Jessica Futrick has passed away. I saw her obituary on the Altoona Mirror website. She was killed in a car accident in Texas. My sympathies are with her family.
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banksy
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Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2002 12:51 am
If Mike has 13 apples, and gives six to Jane, how many does he have left?: 13
Location: North Ridgeville, OH (TAHS 85)

Post by banksy »

Woman dies after accident in Clute
By Velda Hunter and Chris Robinson
The Facts

Published May 17, 2006
CLUTE — With her enchantingly optimistic personality and personal magnetism, friends and family said Jessica Engelbrecht never knew a stranger.

The 32-year-old Houston woman, known for making friends easily, died Monday at Houston’s Memorial Hermann Hospital after being injured in a two-car accident Saturday in Clute. Engelbrecht was returning to Houston from a friend’s place in Surfside Beach when her 2006 Chrysler van was struck by a Ford F-150 on the Highway 288-B overpass.

The driver of the pickup, Elden Carter, 32, had a blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit, Clute Police Detective Scotty Harris said. Beer cans also were found in his vehicle.

Carter is on felony probation for his third driving while intoxicated conviction, Harris said. A day before the accidentthat killed Engelbrecht, Carter was in court to answer a state claim that he had violated his probation.

Carter could face an intoxication manslaughter charge, which is a second-degree felony carrying two to 20 years in prison, or a homicide charge, a first-degree felony resulting in five to 99 years or life in prison, Harris said.

Police expect to wrap up the case by early next week, and District Attorney Jeri Yenne will decide which charges to pursue, he said.

“Any time a human life is taken, that’s the worst kind of crime anybody can commit,” Harris said.

Carter, who was given a probated four-year sentence for a DWI conviction in 2005, appeared Friday before District Judge Robert May. Carter, after the state claimed he was not living up to the terms of his sentence, including failing to complete a DWI Intervention Program, failing to pay supervision fees and failing to do community service for 13 months.

He had been placed on DWI supervision, and the probation department was monitoring him, Yenne said.

Carter was screened for alcohol and drugs Friday. Though he tested negative for alcohol, he tested positive for cocaine, Yenne said.

Carter wasn’t arrested.

“We did ask the court to consider some type of sanction for the violations,” said Caroline Rickaway, director of Brazoria County’s Adult Probation Department. That could have included jail time or treatment, she said. “It wasn’t really granted or denied. It was reset for next week.”

Carter was supposed to report back to the judge May 19, and he intended to do another test, she said.

May said Carter would start but not finish a class, giving work-related reasons, so the judge ordered the course to be completed within about 90 to 120 days.

Although May’s comments were limited — saying he couldn’t discuss details of an ongoing case — he said Carter could have been arrested. Speaking generally, he said an arrest would depend on the facts of a case.

“If someone shows up obviously impaired, you got to do something about that,” May said. “I believe everything will come to light in due time. … I can’t comment on a case I may have to make rulings on.”

Judges routinely take people into custody who show up in court impaired, Yenne said, and May is among those judges. But a probationer is under contract by law, and Carter’s terms stated no drugs and no alcohol.

She couldn’t speak for the court, and the court couldn’t fully speak for itself because of judicial ethics.

“I want to make this statement: Judge May is a fine judge. Hindsight is 20/20,” Yenne said. “We agonize daily. … We do hold public safety in our hands. We don’t want to miss one ever.”

Called a spirited woman, Engelbrecht had many friends who would do anything for her, said her father, Chris Futrick.

“She never saw the bad points in anybody. She always capitalized on the good things. She had so much spunk in her, it was ridiculous,” he said. “The most important thing in her life was never to hurt anybody and her faith in God.”

Engelbrecht was a manager for Karastan Rugs, but her true calling was as a makeup artist. She lent her makeup skills to MSNBC and movies, and founded her own cosmetics company, Jessica Marie Cosmetics, Futrick said.

“She went after everything she wanted and she loved people,” he said.

Jennifer Lopez met Engelbrecht through a friend about three years ago, but said their relationship really took off when they were at a wedding last April.

“I can’t stop thinking about her. It’s so surreal to me that she’s gone,” Lopez said. “I’m at a loss for words to say. She’s a very special person, very outgoing, very energetic. … This was not supposed to happen this way.”

Billy Anderson, 24, of Angleton was the passenger in the F-150 and was treated and released Saturday from Brazosport Regional Medical System. Harris said he didn’t test Anderson’s blood-alcohol level and isn’t considering charges against him.

Carter, of Clute, was listed in good condition Tuesday at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. A warrant for revocation of probation has been issued, and the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department has agreed to put a 24-hour guard at Carter’s hospital room.

“It’s a very sad, tragic incident and it should not have occurred. She was way too young to die like this,” Lopez said. “Her family and her husband are the ones that have to suffer, and it’s not fair to lose somebody who was this special.”

The death could have been prevented — first by Carter following the terms of his probation, and then if the safety net in place had worked, Yenne said.

“Does the criminal justice system make every effort for the safety net to work? Yes. Did it work in this case? No,” she said.

After speaking with Engelbrecht’s family, Yenne called the experience agonizing to watch.

“It is difficult to watch the pain and the tears and the deep grief caused by this action,” she said. “We do realize these are real-life people.”

The probation department cares, and its employees did what they were supposed to do, Yenne said. But “the worst nightmare is what had transpired here. … It is a sad day. It’s really a sad day.”

Chris Robinson and Velda Hunter are reporters for The Facts.

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MEMORIAL SERVICE

4 p.m. today, St. Vincent de Paul, 6800 Buffalo Speedway, Houston

VIEWING

2 to 4 p.m., 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday

FUNERAL

11 a.m. Monday, St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic in Tyrone, Pa. Following the interment there will be a reception at Harkins Hall.

DONATIONS

The family requests donations be made to children’s or baby’s charity funds on behalf of Jessica Engelbrecht.
Mainegirl

Post by Mainegirl »

Thanks Terry for posting this article for us to read.
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