Wrong-way driver in crash that killed Muckleroy family was intoxicated, Texas DPS says
The wrong-way driver who struck and killed three members of a Fort Worth family in a November 2023 crash was drunk at the time, according to an updated report.
The driver, 25-year-old Marine 1st Lt. Connor McKim, had a blood alcohol content of .261 — more than three times the legal limit — according to the revised report from the Texas Department of Public Safety’s investigation.
McKim was also speeding at an estimated 83 mph in a 70 mph zone and headed north when his pickup truck veered into the southbound lanes of U.S. 281 in Blanco County, according to the report.
A DPS official told the Star-Telegram a few weeks after the crash that the preliminary investigation had not found any evidence that alcohol was involved in the accident.
Lauren and Zach Muckleroy and their two children were driving to a relative’s house to celebrate Thanksgiving when McKim’s Toyota Tacoma collided head-on with the family’s SUV, causing it to spin. A third car then struck the SUV, rolled and came to rest upright, according to the report.
Zach, a 44-year-old construction company CEO, and the couple’s two children, 12-year-old Judson and 9-year-old Lindsay, were all killed in the wreck. McKim also died.
Thousands of people showed up to University Christian Church, online, and on campus at Texas Christian University for the Muckleroys’ funeral in December 2023.
Family members wore purple, a nod to Zach and his family’s love for TCU, where he played as a walk-on for the 1998 team that upset USC in the Sun Bowl.
Lauren, who was driving the family’s vehicle, survived with broken bones in her arms and spine and an intestinal tear.
“I have felt the unfairness of this, not just to me, but for the three of them,” Lauren Muckleroy told People Magazine in an interview last month.
In the time since the accident, Lauren has channeled her grief into service for the Fort Worth nonprofit The WARM Place, which supports children and families who also have lost loved ones, according to People.
“I want my focus to be on remembering them,” Muckleroy told People.
