HOUSTON—The drunk driver who struck and killed a prominent member of the art car community learned his fate Wednesday. Dustin Allen Poe was sentenced to nine years for causing the death of 51-year-old Tom Jones.
Police said Poe, who was 23 at the time of the accident, was drunk and speeding down Heights Boulevard when he lost control of his car and crashed May 11, 2008.
Jones was sitting on the curb with a friend when Poe’s Pontiac GT smashed into a parked car. The parked car then landed on Jones, pinning him under it.
The Houston Fire Department lifted the car off Jones and rushed him to the hospital, but he could not be saved.
Jones was a pillar in the community and a curator for the Art Car Museum. The accident happened just hours after their annual Art Car Parade.
