Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - SUSPECT KEEPS DRIVING WITH YOUNG MOM DEAD ON HIS WINDSHIELD AFTER MOWING HER DOWN

Episode Date: October 10, 2025

Kjersten Strang, devoted mom to a young son, social media pages covered with almost every photo of her son. Kjersten's last post on Facebook, is written directly to her son expressing  "as long a...s I'm living my baby, you'll be loved" and "I'll love you forever". Kjersten's friends describe her as an "angel" and they organize a GoFundMe to provide help with funeral expenses and plan to gift the remaining proceeds over to Kjersten's mother, Elaine. Kjersten, was tragically killed while she was obeying road rules by riding her ebike in the designated 'bike lane" in Gulfport, Florida around 10pm Saturday night. Unfortunately, a driver of a Nissan Altima was breaking every road rule and was being driven a repeat offender, Xavier Rigby. Without warning, Rigby slams Kjersten from behind at a high rate of speed, throwing the 38-year-old mother into the air, forcing her to land so hard on the windshield of Rigby's car, trapping her in the broken  glass windshield. This is when many would hope the perp stops to render aid, but no, Rigby does not stop, he continues driving as if there isn't an injured woman on his windshield. Police on the scene report Rigby shows multiple signs of impairment, the smell alcohol, bloodshot eyes, stumbles, and his speech is slurred. Rigby also refuses the roadside sobriety test so police  immediately arrest him and haul him off to the Pinellas County Jail. Police charge Rigby with leaving the scene of a Crash Involving Death, Vehicular Homicide Leaving the Scene, and DUI Manslaughter.  More shocking details surface after Rigby's arrest, unveiling his previous extensive criminal driving record that includes a previous hit-and-run with DUI charges as well. Unfortunately, the state reduced that DUI to a lesser charge of "reckless driving."  His driving record also cited several traffic infractions, one being speeding more than 30 miles per hour over the speed limit. During Rigby's first court appearance, the judge has strong words for him, calling Rigby a "Danger to the community" and not only did this second DUI kill somebody, but also he dragged their body while fleeing the scene and did not bother to stop to render them aid. Joining Nancy Grace today, Lisa Miller- Mother of Samantha Miller, who was killed by a drunk driver on the day of her wedding, April 28, 2023 in Folly Beach, South Carolina Joseph Low - Trial attorney and Founder of the Law Firm of Joseph H. Low IV, one of the few attorneys who practice in military, state and federal courts. Former U.S. Marine. Website: attorney4people.com, Instagram: josephlowesq  Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst, Author: "Deal Breaker: When to work on a relationship and when to walk away” Also featured in hit show: "Paris in Love" on Peacock, www.drbethanymarshall.com , Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall, Twitter: @DrBethanyLive   Sheryl McCollum - Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder, ColdCaseCrimes.org, Host of podcast: Zone 7, Twitter: @ColdCaseTips  Kimberly Cockrell- Victim Services Manager at Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in South Carolina, Lost her best friend to a drunk driver in 1993. website: MADD.ORG, FB: Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Instagram: @maddnational   Dr. Kendall Crowns - Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth), NEW Podcast "Mayhem in the morgue" launching soon, Lecturer: Burnett School of Medicine at TCU (Texas Christian University)  Sarina Fazan - Four-time Emmy Award-winning television anchor and reporter, producer, and media coach. Creator of the Sarina Fazan Network, website: sarinafazan.com  Dave Mack  - Crime Stories, Investigative Reporter  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an I-Heart podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A suspect keeps driving with a young single mom dead on his windshield after he mows her down dead. The young mom dead on his windshield. And he keeps driving estimate for miles. Wait for it. In the last four years, he had been charged nine times with road related incidents. Why was he behind the wheel? Why is this single mom? She is the sole caregiver for her little boy. Now she's dead. And all she was doing was riding along on an e-bike, minding her own business until Xavier Rigby crashes into her life.
Starting point is 00:01:08 I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being with us. Kirsten Strang was a devoted single mother whose life revolved around her. young son. Their days were filled with trips to the beach and creating a fun life for the two until one faithful night shattered their world forever. Those photos are killing me. It reminds me of the thousands and thousands of photos I took of the twins when they were little. According to everyone to whom we have spoken, this mom, Kirsten, lived, lived.
Starting point is 00:01:58 for her little boy. And now she's gone. She is a sole caregiver to her son. What's going to happen to him now? And what about her dreams of seeing him graduate from kindergarten, then gone to first grade, then middle school, high school, college, and beyond her leading him along the way It's only one person can do. And that is your mother. Enter the suspect, Xavier Rigby. And let me just go out on a limb and say, rot in hell, Rigby. Yes, he's presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Starting point is 00:02:44 And I'm going to have a couple of rounds with a veteran trial lawyer named Jacob Lowe in just a moment on this case. But first, I want to go to a year. veteran investigative reporter, a four-time Emmy Award-winning TV anchor and producer, Serena Fazzan. Serena, what happened? Oh, my gosh. I mean, Nancy, don't you think this was absolutely a failure in the system as well? We lost a beautiful mother. But what was he doing out in the road in the first place?
Starting point is 00:03:17 I mean, you saw the disdain and the distress from the judge. Serena, normally I take a chunk out of somebody that tries to blame the system instead of blaming the suspect. But this time, I agree with you. I mean, do I have the count right? Because I actually think I've missed some. Nine road-related charges in four years. What, whack-a-doodle judge? Let this guy out.
Starting point is 00:03:46 You know what? Hold on. Serena Fazzan with all the facts with me. me, but I've just got to go to Kimberly Cockrell. Victim Services Manager at Mad, M-A-D, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, South Carolina, who happened to have lost her best friend to a drunk driver. Kimberly, does it never end? Because there's plenty of blame to pass around here.
Starting point is 00:04:10 But can we just focus on the technical legal term, a whole judge that let this guy walk, nine road related offenses including leaving the scene of a crash before you know I hate to even look at him because he's looking at me like what what did I do
Starting point is 00:04:31 I know what he did what does Matt have to say about this Kimberly we're absolutely notified by this man's behavior this is that it's bad enough that you're drinking and driving but then to keep driving
Starting point is 00:04:46 for miles with the the mother, single mother, on the hood of your car, that is absolutely vapid. I do not understand how this man could continue on with her on his car and just driving as if there was nothing wrong. I mean, Cheryl McCollum, who has also worked with Mad Now, director of the Cold Case Research Institute and star of a hit podcast Zone 7, Cheryl McCollum, He can't say he didn't see her. She's on his windshield.
Starting point is 00:05:21 She's stuck on his windshield. Mommy on a windshield, Cheryl. What can he possibly say to that? Not only was that sound overwhelming. His car would have reacted not just to hitting her, but running over her e-bite. Nancy, this is one of those cases where you just have to say to yourself, he drove with this poor mother dying on the hood of his car through the windshield. Guys, I'm about to go to a veteran trial lawyer who has handled cases very similar to this.
Starting point is 00:06:00 But first, I want to hear, I want you to hear what happened. Kirsten Strang is riding her e-bike in the bike lane, Gulfport, Florida at 10 p.m. Saturday night. Nissan Altima approaches from behind at a high rate of speed, slams into Kirsten's bike, knocking the mother into the air, and does not stop. He continues driving as if there isn't an injured woman on his windshield. Injured dying will be more appropriate. Guys, joining me right now is a very special guest who I consider to be a friend. It's Lisa Miller.
Starting point is 00:06:32 And she lost a person most precious to her. Her daughter, Samantha. To a drunk driver, there's Samantha. Is she not absolutely stunning? Do you see her in that wedding dress? I hate to even say it. She died in her wedding dress at the hands of a drunk driver, leaving her own wedding reception on a day that is the day parents live for.
Starting point is 00:07:11 We live to see our child find the perfect person. and then we know we've done our job. We've hopefully gotten them through school. We've got them established in life. And then they find the life partner that we love too. And it all ended
Starting point is 00:07:30 on what would have been the happiest night of Lisa Miller's life. Lisa, I just the moment I heard about Kirsten a single mom dead on this guy's windshield,
Starting point is 00:07:46 The first thing I thought about was about you and Samantha. I can't describe the pain. This family must be feeling, but you can, Lisa. What happened the night that Sam was brutally killed by a drunk driver? I'll just say that obviously nobody will ever understand what things. families go through when you lose a child or you as a parent suddenly, unexpectedly on the happiest day of their life. I would not say, sorry, Nancy, that that was the happiest day of my life.
Starting point is 00:08:33 It was actually your day of my life. And we showed up at, I'm going to just generalize it a little bit, I don't want to get into A lot of it, but we went to the scene after we figured out there was an accident and we're told by the police that everybody that was in the accident was at the hospital. So obviously I went to the hospital, my daughter drove me there to find Sam. We get to the hospital. They're not letting us know where Sam is because everybody on the golf cart was a John or Jane Doe because nobody had their ID with them. Obviously, they're just leaving the wedding going to the Airbnb.
Starting point is 00:09:28 So we're looking through the hallways and still to this day going in a hospital with my mom, I walk through the hallway. I lose it. Looking for Sam, looking for Sam. We're outside waiting. We're back inside, walking around, just look at it. me and my daughter were roaming through the halls of the hospital finally go outside
Starting point is 00:09:48 again. It's late now. The accident happened at 10. It's probably one in the morning at this point and we're still waiting to find my daughter. And I was worried about her injuries. Little did I know. This is the hardest part is while we're
Starting point is 00:10:06 outside waiting, her dad called who stayed at the scene. And he said, Sam's not at the hospital. Sorry. He said, she's here. I just identified her body. She's dead.
Starting point is 00:10:25 And you can't even imagine that moment. I fell to the ground. And my daughter said I was pounding on the ground. I don't know what I was doing, obviously. And so she took me home. not home, but to R-A-R-B-R-B-R-B-N-B-B-B-N-I-B. I mean, it was kind of blurry after that, but yeah, and I found out later on that Sam made Eric switch places with her on the golf cart because she didn't like where she was sitting.
Starting point is 00:10:59 That pretty much killed me, but it's a pain that no mother should have to endure. I mean, I've been lucky that I've managed to connect with some other mothers that have lost their children and we have a group chat and we have a Zoom meeting we all support each other and I'm also doing grief coaching classes
Starting point is 00:11:21 so I'm looking forward to doing what Sam would want me to do which would be to help others that go through this Lisa first of all I feel so guilty about asking you what happened because
Starting point is 00:11:37 I know that it's painful and hurtful to relive it. But I don't think others understand. Vehicular homicide, drunk driving deaths are not accidents, and they are preventable. And for the judge in the current case, Lisa, let this guy out wandering, free, driving, after he'd already had a hit and run nine road incidents in the past four years and now Kirsten a single mom is dead
Starting point is 00:12:16 I mean I handled so I prosecuted so many HV habitual violators that had gone in and out and in and out and finally somebody's dead that's what I would get them when they were a felony not a misdemeanor DUI and the families of the victims it would just be sitting on the front road behind me in court, just crying. Because nothing can fix it.
Starting point is 00:12:41 There's no fix for this. You can't just put a band-aid and it's bracing back team. There's no fix. They're not coming back ever. And it's hard to explain why a DUI is so important for us to focus on, Lisa. I know, and it's amazing. It's amazing the amount of people that I have met. that have lost family members to DUIs and these people, they don't get any time,
Starting point is 00:13:12 or they get a year, or they get a, you know, 30 days in jail, or they don't get anything at all because maybe they were a former police officer. I mean, I've heard so many stories. Or maybe like in this case, the judge just lets them go. Trust me, Xavier Rigby is not a former police officer. There was just a slack judge that didn't care. They just let him walk. I don't know the answer, but I do know that letting a person with this many road incidents just walk.
Starting point is 00:13:48 That's not okay. Oh, oh. Guys, I want you to hear the perp that mowed down Samantha whining on the person. the phone. Listen. I know it was a golf car. I know, honey. We know, honey, why? Like, golfers should be loud on the working road. This could happen to anyone. Like, why me? Like, why we are all people? Why me? I don't understand. Like, this could have happened so many other people. Is she crazy? You are hearing the perp on the phone that's Jamie Lee Komarowski whining about how did this happen to me? Why can't it happen to
Starting point is 00:14:38 somebody else? Nothing happened to her. She drove drunk and she killed Samantha and left the fiance in a pile of bones. He's still having to have reconstructive surgeries. He barely lived. Did you hear this? Dr. Bethany Marshall, what is wrong with DUI killers? I don't get it. It's like, why did this happen to me? And at the end, she goes, this could have happened to so many other people. You know, Nancy, it's so self. What is she saying, Bethany? She's only thinking about herself, Nancy.
Starting point is 00:15:13 It's so self-referential. You know, even though the legal limit is 0.08, at 0.02, you're seven times more likely to have an accident. You know that a third of all traffic-related fatalities have alcohol, involved. And what I think with these people is that not only are they so used to being drunk or high, but they drive around in what we call a brownout. It's a little different than a blackout. A blackout is you have no memory. You don't even know what you're doing. A brownout is you're sort of dimly aware and you don't really care. So you just drive wherever you want without any thought of consequences. Put her up. Bethany, do you think I care? Do you think I care? Do you think
Starting point is 00:15:59 It matters to me that the drunk driver doesn't care. They don't care because they're drunk. They don't care because they're drunk. Flash to Dr. Bethany. It's not some deep, seated psychological problem. They're drunk on their rear ends. That's why they don't care. You know, I was just speaking to Lisa Miller about how judges just let these people walk
Starting point is 00:16:23 like the judge did in Rigby's case and now single mom is dead. Just wait, you've got to hear what a judge sentenced Rigby to last time. Rigby has an extensive criminal record, a previous hit and run, and a DUI charge to the stay reduced to a reckless driving charge. He also has several traffic infractions, like speeding more than 30 miles over the speed limit. In his previous DUI, Rigby has caught driving on the wrong side of the road, on a divided highway, and has an open container in the charges, but is allowed to plead it down to reckless driving. completes DUI School and a Mother's Against Driving Online Victim Impact Panel. Did you hear that? Let me go to Joseph Lowe.
Starting point is 00:17:09 He's a veteran trial lawyer who practices in L.A., never a lack of business there. He's the founder of the law firm, Joseph H. Lowe the 4th. That means there's been three before him. Joseph, did you hear what Rigby got last time? he had to watch a video of a Mothers Against Drunk Driving panel. He had to watch a video. That was his punishment.
Starting point is 00:17:38 What I heard even more is the absolute broken heart of Mrs. Miller. I can only imagine what that boy of the gal who unfortunately lost her life to this guy. That is so hard to listen to. And I'll be honest. I brought tears in mind just listening to you, Nancy, and listen to Ms. Miller. And it's, we sit and listen to it, and let's just be real right now. Why we're outraged, why you're outraged, why you should be. It's because it seems so senseless.
Starting point is 00:18:11 And that's the whole part about the alcohol involved here. It lends to you to realize that there was no need for him to drink that much if he was. We don't know, but we're being told he was, or at least the other person. And why? Why do they have to drink that much alcohol so that somebody else has to have everything they've ever owned taken from them and anything they'll ever have taken from them? But even worse, that boy's not going to grow up without the love of a parent in times of his life where he needs that advice and that comfort and that nurturing. I appreciate everything you just said, but this must be an echo chamber because I've already said that. I asked you, how does a defense attorney stand by?
Starting point is 00:18:53 and you're looking at your HV, your habitual violator client, and you hear the judge just give him watching a video, a Mothers Against Joint Driving Panel video, that's the sentence when you know this guy either needs to go to jail to dry out or to go to some kind of a lockdown rehab and he just walks out the door and you know he's going to do it again. How do you bring yourself to stay quiet? I personally would not, and I've had similar cases, not with this magnitude, what I'm about to do, but that is I have actually said to the court that you can give them the standard penalties, which is what the judge did. But I've said before, this person is going to need more than that because otherwise we're going to be here again. As an officer of the court, I've taken a solemn oath to make sure I'm helping not hurting.
Starting point is 00:19:48 And if I'm discerned that this person needs more, because I got him some screening and counseling someone very professional like Dr. Bethany Marshall here, he says this is what they're going to need. I have gone to the judge before and say, look, this is what they really need. And it's a little bit more. But as a result, we're all going to be safer. That's what's supposed to happen from the defense side as well. So you're right. There's no answer to your question that's going to be inflammatory than, oh, what's the big deal? That's what's supposed to happen. And you know it as well. And unfortunately, doesn't. happen enough. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. Joseph Lowe, veteran trial lawyer. You're absolutely correct. Sadly, that is not what happened in the case of Lisa's daughter, Sam, or in the current case of Xavier Rigby. The perp, driving in and out of traffic for eight blocks with Kirsten still stuck. to his windshield. Finally, Kirsten falls off the windshield, crashing onto the ground. The driver doesn't call 911, doesn't stop to render aid, fails to wait for first responders to arrive. He
Starting point is 00:20:59 continues on, leaving the mortally wounded woman in the roadway. Kirsten went for a seemingly ordinary bike ride on her e-bike gliding along the Gulfport Florida curb lane. Unbeknownst to her, a reckless man was about to make a series of catastrophic choices that would change everything. Straight back out to award-winning TV anchor and investigative reporter, Serena Fizan. Serena, where exactly did this happen? So it happened in an area called Gulfport. And Nancy, it's such a beautiful, small community. I can imagine how it's shattered that area.
Starting point is 00:21:39 You know, it's near the water, the population. It's a very small population home to a lot of artists, hardworking people. I just can't even imagine. I can't even imagine for the people who witnessed that. This is what happened when responders get to the scene. First responders arrive on the scene, but it's too late. Kirsten is pronounced deceased on the scene. The driver of the Nissan Ultima is no stranger to traffic offenses.
Starting point is 00:22:05 Xavier Rigby has multiple offenses and knows his duty to stop and render aid. Instead, leaves the woman's crumpled body on the road and takes off. The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office quickly identifies the suspect vehicle and tracks Rigby down in short order, finding the fleeing suspect about a mile away at a liquor store. Police can smell alcohol on his breath. He has bloodshot eyes. Can barely walk. His speech is slurred. Refuses a roadside sobriety test. Let's analyze what we've just learned. We learned that the suspect is a mile away already at a liquor store. At a liquor store. Kirsten just fell off his windshield where he left her on the side of the road dead.
Starting point is 00:22:47 And he goes straight to a liquor store. Okay, that's not helping anything to Cheryl McCollum. What about it? He came more about getting more booze than her life. He was mission focused. He didn't see her. He didn't stop when he ran over the bike. He didn't stop when he flung her off the hood.
Starting point is 00:23:09 But he kept going for a mile to a liquor store. You know, I'm very curious your reaction. Cheryl McCollum with us, Director of Cold Case Research Institute and star of a hit podcast, Zone 7. Cheryl, did you hear the judge's earlier sentence on this guy? Let him walk, pled the case down. In that case, he was driving on the wrong side of the road drunk. That's a head-on collision waiting to happen. With an open container, what does that mean?
Starting point is 00:23:41 That means he's got an open beer or liquor without a top. on it. In other words, drinking it. The reason we call it open container is because they don't actually guzzle it down in front of the cops, but they're sitting there with a beer or alcohol, hard alcohol, open in the car. All right? That's called open container. So he's driving drunk down the wrong side of the road on a divided highway, Cheryl. That means those victims, they can't even go anywhere. The highway's divided. They'll run into a if they try to get out of his way. See what I mean?
Starting point is 00:24:17 So it's death to them no matter what they do. Wrong side of the road, divided highway, open container. It got planned down to reckless driving, and all he had to do was watch a video of Mothers Against Drunk Driving online. That's it. His prior offenses started four years ago when he was 18. He hasn't even been legally able to drink except for a year, and he's all. already had a DUI prior to that.
Starting point is 00:24:47 Why this guy was not on their radar, I don't know. And here's another question. I don't know how he still has a car or insurance or a driver license. Kimberly Cockrell joining us from Mothers Against Drunk Driving out of South
Starting point is 00:25:02 Carolina. Kimberly, I know at some point, you're not surprised anymore or shocked. I still am amazingly. But how many times has someone driven drunk, statistically, by the time they're caught one time? According to the FBI, someone drives an average of 80 times drunk before they're actually stopped.
Starting point is 00:25:29 So this number should terrify everyone. When you're driving down the road at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, which I just got a new case a week ago, someone was killed at 1.30 in the afternoon in the state of South Carolina by a drunk drive. This should terrify you when you're on your way to pick up your children from school, when you're on your way to church. These people are out there and they're driving drunk around you. That should terrify you. We have so many human beings that are losing their lives. And unfortunately, yes, judges are taking these DUI first that they see as victimless crimes.
Starting point is 00:26:06 And what they're doing is they are dropping these down to reckless. That just gives these offenders a free pass in all honesty to offend again. offend again. And it gives them a superpower almost that they feel like they have. They're untouchable. So they'll continue the actions. Straight back out to veteran trial lawyer out of the LA jurisdiction. Joseph L.A. is with us. Low. In preparation for tonight, I cross-examined a colleague whose specialty is DUI defense, including DUI homicide. And I said, have you had any DUIs lately? And he said, oh yeah, I had a DUI vehicular homicide and guess what?
Starting point is 00:26:54 I got it pled down to reckless driving, which is basically a citation. And he was so proud. He was so proud. And I knew that you and I were discussing this tonight. I mean, at a certain point, it's just wrong. But judges go along with it. What do you make of this case? You've got fleeing the scene, hit and run, leaving the young mom on the side of the road.
Starting point is 00:27:28 We know she was already dead, but he didn't know that. Just leaving there, leaving her there so he can get to the liquor store. Low. Well, clearly the defense lawyer is going to have their work cut out for him. But let me play the role for a minute. If I had this case and I wanted to win it, I had to win it. It was the right thing to do because I'm supposed to zealously fight for my client's rights. Here's what I'd say.
Starting point is 00:27:52 I'd say to the judge, judge, all those things you just heard that he hit her that hard going that fast being that drunk and drove her that far, eight blocks or more, still at the same speed, and then ends up at a liquor store, clearly. clearly this man is so addicted to alcohol that he hasn't the ability to even be a functioning civilian as citizen which is why we're so angry at him and the reason if we stay angry at him that he's going to go to prison in this case he's going to go to prison if you look at the charges but if he comes out which he will and he'll probably be somewhere on 35 maybe 40 he's going to be even worse and he's going to be back on the streets and we're going to see this again and some other judge is going to get the same problem. So, Judge, what I want you to do is not put him in the human warehouse for 14, 15 years and make him worse.
Starting point is 00:28:44 Let's get him the treatment he needs that gives him the best chance he possibly has to be able to be a functioning member society and address the real issue, which is the alcoholism. That's pretty much where the defense is going to go. And that's why, if it works, it works. It's because a lot of times they'll buy off on that. It's the substance abuse angle, probably where they're going to go with it. Okay, have you ever seen a snake charmer, maybe on National Geographic or something like that, where the snake's doing like that, and the snake trauma is doing like that, and
Starting point is 00:29:15 they have this symbiotic thing going on, you know what? Thank God I know better than to believe anything you just said, because it was very, very compelling, and now I know how you meant, win so many cases. You look at the judge, just like you look at that camera, and you go off on a roll, and it all make sense and then it's all over and the judges let the guy walk out of the courthouse with the reckless driving that's how you do it crime stories with nancy grace um i want to go back to this getting sentenced to watching an online mothers against drunk driving video that is his sentence straight out to Dr. Bethany Marshall joining us psychoanalyst out of the L.A. jurisdiction,
Starting point is 00:30:07 author of Deal Breaker. You can see her now on Peacott and you can find her at Dr. Bethanymartial.com. Dr. Bethany Marshall, I know better than to ask Joseph Lowe this question because somehow he'll worm out of it. But the law is, Dr. Bethany, that voluntary use of drugs or alcohol is never a defense. What he was talking about is mitigation when the guys pled guilty. It's not a fact-finding mission anymore. It's about getting a light sentence. Drugs and alcohol, not a defense in the guilt-innocence phase. So one thing I want to understand is what he just said, which is right, how the guy is straight back up at the liquor store.
Starting point is 00:30:52 You know, Nancy, he has an addiction, a compulsion, and one of the very essential features of an addiction is lack of insight. into the harm it will cause other people. So if this guy does not have consequences, he will just go right back out and use. He needs to be behind bars not only for society because he needs to get the fumes out. He needs to be behind bars for 14, 15 years so that he can be sober.
Starting point is 00:31:21 If he can be sober behind bars, you know, the things with addiction, Nancy, is that it never goes away. Somebody can be addicted, drinking, using, Wait, for two, Bethany. Bethany, a veteran now lawyer was a motor man in APD forever. That's how I knew him. He came in as a witness.
Starting point is 00:31:42 And he would not drink a drop. And explained to me that his father was what he called a dry drunk. And that kind of goes back to what trial lawyer Joseph Lowe was saying. They get dried out in jail. But I don't know that that cures it. What is a dry drunk, which this guy really certainly is not? Well, you know, a lot of addicts have what we call dual diagnosis, which is there is a comorbidity with another psychiatric illness like bipolar, schizophrenia, personality disorder. So the dry drunk, maybe they're not drinking, but they still have all the other issues associated with addiction.
Starting point is 00:32:28 I think of it like if you're driving down the road and there's a big pothole. and you hit it, something's going to happen to your tires. But what if there's a little thin shield over the pothole and you still drive down that road? You're still going to have damage to your vehicle. So sobriety is like that little thin shield. It may cover up the addiction, but the pothole is still there. Addiction is chronic throughout the lifespan. The only cure is to not drink.
Starting point is 00:33:01 which is why this guy needs to be behind bars. The devoted mom to a young son, Kirsten's social media is covered with family photos, but almost every photo includes her son. One of Kirsten's last post on Facebook was written directly to her son, saying, as long as I'm living, my baby, you'll be loved, and I'll love you forever. Kirsten's friend describing her as an angel, have set up a go-fund me to provide help with funeral expenses, with proceeds turned over to Kirsten's mother Elaine,
Starting point is 00:33:30 who will now be standing in the gap, caring for her grandson. In a cruel twist of fate, straying across paths with Xavier Rigby, a notorious repeat traffic offender. Rigby spent the night drowning in alcohol, setting off a chain of reckless decisions. Here you are with the prior leaving the scene from 2022. Then in 2024, the state was generous enough to reduce your DUI to a reckless. Her purpose is a bond. it's a DUI so then here we are now we've now gone to a second DUI but this time extremely
Starting point is 00:34:07 aggravating facts where you killed somebody left the scene and dragged their body and I don't even need to go any further for how aggravating these set of facts are from our friends at WFLA joining me now is an esteemed medical examiner dr Kendall crowns the chief medical examiner Tarrant county that's Fort Worth. He is a star of a hit new podcast, Mayhem in the Morg, which, by the way, I've listened to on Loop, Dr. Kendall Crowns. He is the esteemed lecturer at the Burnett School of Medicine, and that is at TCU. Dr. Kendall Crowns, let me ask you, we know that this single mom, sole caregiver to her little boy, is riding her e-bike when she is hit, at about 65 miles an hour.
Starting point is 00:35:03 She is thrown onto the windshield. And when first responders get there, she's dead. But is it possible, Dr. Kendall Crowns, that she lived long enough to know she was dying? Yes, it's a possibility. From what I've read, the car struck her for behind. So potentially her back gets hit by the car, pelvic region gets shattered. She flips backward onto the windshield, crushing the windshield that would possibly break ribs,
Starting point is 00:35:43 break her thoracic, or make her a paraplegic, but not necessarily compromise her head if she had a helmet on, especially, or break her neck. So she's now wedged in the window, broken glass, penetrating her skin. She would have rib fractures. She would be bleeding internally as well as externally, but not necessarily be dead immediately. She probably had several minutes of survivability where she was sitting in that window on the hood of that car bleeding out. Dr. Kendall Crowns, have you ever undergone surgery and they put you under anesthesia? Yes. Me too.
Starting point is 00:36:21 and the last thing I'm thinking is I hear them saying count backwards and I start counting backwards and then I quit counting and pray Lord let me live through this surgery so I can raise the twins they are my last thought I wonder if she could think about her baby boy or if she was in so much pain, or was she knocked out when she was first hit when she flew through the air and crashed into his windshield? But people have recounted their last memories before they died and they were brought back, resuscitated.
Starting point is 00:37:07 I've had witnesses tell me their last memories, and they were almost always of their children. It's possible that it would be her last memory, but she conscious, it's debatable if she hit her, head or not. But if she is conscious, it is a possibility because if her head's not compromised, she would still possibly be able to think and feel and who knows where her last memories will be. But I agree with you, most people's last memories that have children are thinking about their children and what will happen to them before they go unconscious.
Starting point is 00:37:43 Joining me, a fellow warrior in the trenches, Cheryl McCollum and I started fighting crime together many, many years ago we met fighting domestic violence. Cheryl McCollum now star of a hit podcast, Zone 7. Cheryl, I've had victims tell me so many different variations of what happened to them. It's almost always up. Who's going to take care? hair of my children. That's their last thought. Forget their pain, forget what they've been through. That's what they're thinking. They're not thinking, I'm dying. They're thinking about their
Starting point is 00:38:24 child. See, there's no doubt in my mind that every single thing she did from the moment that baby got here was for him, about him, because of him. There's no question. And, you know, I think people, when they say, well, I mean, it's just drunk driving. We can watch the video. Drunk driving is the same as shooting a gun and a crowd of people. You may or may not hit anybody. You may or may not kill anybody. But you take the risk every single time you do it.
Starting point is 00:39:02 And you don't care who it hits. You don't care who it kills. That's the risk you take. And what this person took from this little boy, he deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail. A drunk driver who continues to drive up to a mile with the dead victim on the windshield, believe it or not, this is not the first time it's happened. Chantay Mallard drives home, a route she has taken many times, but this night she strikes Gregory Glenn Biggs, who's walking along the highway. His body is propelled partially through the windshield, but Biggs does not die on impact. Instead of pulling over and calling police, Mallard stops and tries to pull the moaning man off her car.
Starting point is 00:39:43 When she can't dislodge the seriously wounded and bleeding man from her windshield, Mallard drives home, parks in the garage, and leaves Biggs there for hours to die. When I hit him, it was a real loud, very loud noise. And all this glass started flying in the car, followed by a lot of wind. and the glass was just, it was just cutting in my skin, it was just stinking me. Boo-hoo! Chante Mallard ran a guy down,
Starting point is 00:40:16 and she's whining that the glass on her windshield cut her skin. He's dead, woman! And then, of course, there's Stacey Sanchez. Around 6.20 a.m., Jack Tenelson, on his way to Brother Bino's Soup Kitchen, the homeless man on the sidewalk, when Stacey Sanchez, on her way home from a night of partying, hits Tenelson with such force, his body smashes through the windshield, landing in the front passenger seat. The bottom part of one of his legs is severed on impact, later recovered at the back of the
Starting point is 00:40:45 car near the rear window. Then there's Nestor Flores. A woman in the drive to a jack in the box, 11 p.m. calls 911 for a welfare check on a man slumped over the wheel of his car. The driver, 31-year-old Nestor Flores, smells like a brewery, says he hit a deer inside. Police find a dead human in the passenger seat. The next morning, partial human remains are found in Dallas that match the remains in Flores car. The impact so severe. The victim's body thrown through the windshield and came to rest on the passenger seat and Flores drove 38 miles before stopping. Flores has two other driving while intoxicated charges in the last five years. Joseph Lowe, I'm sure you're trying to hide right now and hope I don't come to you.
Starting point is 00:41:29 This guy, Flores, had half the victim's body in his car. The other half, the passenger seat right beside him, yes, him, Flores. And the other half of the victim was 38 miles away. And he didn't know what he said he didn't know what happened. Who does he think was in the passenger seat right beside him? Just like in this case, what did Rigby think? Why did he think he needed to go to the liquor store with his windshield cracked
Starting point is 00:42:01 wide open. Well, apparently he thought it was Bambi. And I guess I'm so mutilated he couldn't tell what it was or who it was, which again gives you an idea either how fast he was going or how drunk he really was. I'm going to guess that didn't go so well for him in court to be that unaware and that that ridiculous. But that's what I would have to say would happen there. And that's where you would argue the addiction aspect, or as you said, angle, I heard
Starting point is 00:42:29 that, the addiction angle, to Serena Fazzan joining us. Where does the case stand right now? And where is the little boy? The little boy is now with his grandmother. So at least, you know, he's in the caring arms of someone who deeply loves him. And what about Rigby? Well, we haven't even talked about this. He was falling asleep in the courtroom. The judge had to reprimand him because he was literally falling asleep. in the courtroom. I don't know if you guys saw that. He's not even paying attention to anything. So at least he is behind bars. And Nancy, I know we've talked about this, but this is just a system-wide failure as well. And I know we've talked to Attorney Lowe about this, but there's clearly a moral
Starting point is 00:43:20 breakdown with this gentleman. I don't believe there is rehabilitation in this case. You know what, Serena Fizan, as correct as you may be, I'm going to leave his moral breakdown to be ferreted out between him and the Lord. I'm concerned about his drunk rear end going to jail and staying there this time. But Serena Fazzan, I'm so glad you brought that up. We're showing you video from our friends at Fox 13. he's not worried about Kirsten. He's not worried about her baby.
Starting point is 00:44:03 He's asleep. He's so unconcerned about what's happening. He's actually falling asleep standing up. Thank you, Serena Fizan. And on that note, I will ask, if you know or think you know anything about this case, please dial 727-580-6200. 27-58-2-6200. All we can do now is seek justice for Kirsten's son. We remember an American hero, Deputy Sheriff Sidney Carter killed in the line of duty, survived by her parents,
Starting point is 00:44:41 grieving parents, Annette and Jerry. American hero, Sheriff Sidney Carter. Nancy Gray signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an I-heart podcast.

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