FORT WORTH -- The elementary school music teacher who drove the wrong way on U.S. 287 in June, causing a head-on crash that killed him and a 20-year-old TCC student, was not drunk when he left Cowboys Dancehall that night, a spokeswoman for the Arlington club said Thursday.
John Layton, 46, was driving a 2005 Kia Amanti south in northbound lanes of the highway after 1 a.m. June 21 when he collided with a 1997 Honda CRV driven by Alex Elizabeth Ford, 20.Ford's parents are preparing a possible lawsuit against Cowboys and have asked a court to be allowed to take depositions from bar employees, and to access security videos, bar receipts and other information.Cowboys spokeswoman Kari Wade told the Star-Telegram that Layton, a musician, was well-known at the club."I spoke to witnesses, and they said that John did not appear to be intoxicated," she said. "I don't know what happened after he left the bar."Wade said that Layton was in a band that often performed at Cowboys, but the band was not playing the night of the accident."This is devastating for everyone. I went to the accident scene, and I couldn't figure out how it happened," she said.Dee Kelly Jr., an attorney representing Rick Ford and Jennifer Rosenberg, Alex Ford's parents, said police reports on the wreck and toxicology reports indicate that Layton's blood alcohol level was 0.314, almost four times the legal limit.Rick Ford said, "How did [Layton] get to that level if he didn't drink anything at Cowboys?"Rosenberg said any parent would question what happened.Ford graduated in 2010 from Richland High School, where she was a gymnast and cheerleader, and she attended Tarrant County College.Layton taught music at Johnson Elementary School in Grand Prairie.Elizabeth Campbell,817-390-7696Twitter: @fwstlizHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
