BREAKING NEWS | Tuesday May 16: Jury Hands Down Tarr Sentencing
On Sept. 29, 2014, a white truck was heading into the Buda/Hays County area on FM 1626 when it struck a red convertible head on. The white truck’s nose dug into the road on impact and then rolled onto the passenger side after sliding a certain distance.
The driver of the truck was identified as Jason Tarr, a Buda Realtor, who had just left a charity golf tournament at Grey Rock Golf Course. Sixty-one-year-old Nancy Sterling-Dalton, the driver of the red convertible, was declared dead at the scene.
By Terra Rivers, Managing Editor
The jury has handed in their keycards. The box of notes and documents are packed.
After a two-week trial, the case of the State of Texas vs. Jason Floyd Tarr has officially closed at the Hays County Government Center in San Marcos.
On Sept. 29, 2014, Nancy Sterling-Dalton was on her way home from the YMCA when a white pickup truck came into her lane and struck her head-on.
The accident happened on FM 1626, which was under construction, around 7:50 p.m. Sterling-Dalton had been working out for her daughter’s wedding.
Buda Real Estate Broker Jason Tarr, was identified as the driver of the white pick-up truck. He was taken to Breckenridge Hospital in Austin for medical treatment and was arrested for driving while intoxicated.
Tarr had been driving into Buda, heading home after attending a charity Golf Tournament at Grey Rock Golf Club in Austin.
In 2015, Tarr was indicted for intoxication manslaughter, a second-degree felony, and Murder, a first-degree felony, for the death of Sterling-Dalton. May 1, 2017, almost three years after this accident, Tarr and his attorneys Billy McNabb, George S. Scharmen and Scott Courtney appeared in court for a projected three-week trial.
After a 12-hour jury selection process, 12 jurors and 2 alternates, comprised of residents throughout Hays County, heard the testimonies of colleagues, who stated Tarr had consumed alcohol throughout the day on the day of the accident.
Testimonies stated nothing led Tarr’s colleagues or team mates to believe he was intoxicated. Witnesses from the accident said Tarr had no odor of alcohol about him.
Cindy Heitman, an interior designer, who was with her husband and in the vehicle behind the defendant, described the driver of the white truck to be “violently jerking” in and out of the oncoming lane. Heitman said she had just told her husband, Stan Heitman, “He’s going to kill someone” right before the truck collided with Sterling-Dalton’s red convertible.
Mr. Heitman testified the white truck had “cut him off” on Slaughter Lane and turned onto Brodie Lane in front of him. The Heitmans had been traveling into the Hays County, Buda area to drop off curtains at a client’s of Mrs. Heitman.
The EMS paramedic, Emily Hyde, known as Emily Cade at the time, testified she had smelled alcohol on Tarr when she was treating him in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
On May 11, the jury returned with a verdict of guilty for Intoxication Manslaughter and Murder for the death of Sterling-Dalton; that afternoon, the court reconvened to hear victim impact statements and character witnesses for the punishment phase of the trial.
“What I think or what I hope the judge will ask you (is) to only sentence Mr. Tarr on the murder charge,” Wes Mau, Hays County District Attorney, said.
During the character witness testimonies, the court heard about Tarr’s past three DWI convictions and heard from the Hays County Probation officer, or Community Supervision Officer, who supervised the defendant from 2002 to 2004.
Following that, the jurors heard the victim impact witnesses, Amber McKee and Shane Duffiney, the children of the victim.
McKee said her father had passed away almost a year before the accident, and her mother had just been getting her life back together after the loss. Sterling-Dalton had intended to walk her daughter down the aisle at her wedding, which took place two weeks following the fatal collision.
In her stead, Dalton’s son, Duffiney, and his brothers escorted McKee and remained at her side during the ceremony.
In the afternoon of Friday, May 12, the state rested the penalty and sentencing phase of their case, and the defense called the first of nine witnesses to the stand.
Christopher Hansford, a friend of Tarr’s from his time at Sam Houston State University, said his opinion of Jason had not changed after the accident and the recent conviction.
“I believe even the best people in this world make mistakes,” Hansford said. “We have all sinned. We have all made bad decisions. It is a horrible, tragic situation…but we all beg and pray for forgiveness.”
The last to testify was Crystal Kilpatrick, the defendant’s fiancé, who had been dating Tarr since the beginning of 2014. Kilpatrick said many people had told her to step away from the situation after the fatal accident; however, she did not.
“He has a really amazing heart,” Kilpatrick said. “I have seen him do things for people that nobody would do. He goes above and beyond.”
Kilpatrick said she understood Nancy Sterling-Dalton had died, and she knew her fiancé had made a mistake.
The defense rested their case Monday morning; the jury were read the charges and instructions for sentencing before the closing arguments began.
McNabb said life’s most important lessons are taught by our parents; they are the stern hand that teaches us right from wrong, and the gentle hand that pick us up when we fall. In this case, the parent-child bond had been broken for Dalton and her children; nothing would repair it, he said.
“We cannot forget Sept. 29,” Jennifer Stalbaum, Assistant Criminal District Attorney, said in her closing statements. Additionally, Stalbaum added the testament to Nancy Sterling-Dalton’s life is not the fact Tarr will get to see his son; the testament to her life is that “we see what happened,” and we don’t agree with it.
After almost 11 hours of deliberations, the jury returned with a sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $10,000.
“Why is it only in tragedy that we remember how fragile life is?” McNabb said. “This (the trial) will never bring Mrs. Dalton back. This will never bring the family peace.”
Read more on State of Texas vs. Jason Floyd Tarr
- May 12, 2017 — FRIDAY UPDATE: Continuation Of Tarr Murder Trial
- May 11, 2017 — BREAKING NEWS: Jury Hands Down A Verdict In Tarr Murder Trial
- May 10, 2017 — Tarr Jury Sequestered During Deliberation
- May 9, 2017 — Tarr Case Could Go To Jury Wednesday
- May 3, 2017 – Hays County Jurors Selected, Opening Statements Given In The Jason Tarr Murder Trial
- May 2, 2017 – The State Of Texas Vs. Tarr Begins Trial
- April 21, 2017 – Buda Realtor Returns To Hays County Jail Briefly
- December 16, 2016 – Tarr Attends Final Pre-Evidentiary Hearing
- September 2, 2016 – Tarr Requests Evidence Be Suppressed In Recent Court Hearing
- December 16 , 2015 – Jason Tarr Present For Today’s Court Appearance
- November 5, 2015 – Corridor News Provides Tarr Indictment Sources
- November 4, 2015 – BREAKING: Jason Tarr Indicted For Murder
The defendant’s attorneys’ statements were as pitiful as their client’s excuses for murderimg Nancy Sterling-Dalton while Jason Tarr drove, obliviously drunk:
“Why is it only in tragedy that we remember how fragile life is?” McNabb said. “This (the trial) will never bring Mrs. Dalton back. This will never bring the family peace.”
What a vapid and dopey thing to say. Most of us are fully aware of how fragile life is…Jason Tarr obviously was not. Although her family will never have Nancy back, they will, I’m certain, have some small relief that a degree of justice has been served for the jerk that killed their mother, as am I and other friends of this wonderful woman, who still grieve for her loss.