Murder of Gregory Glenn Biggs

On October 26, 2001, twenty-five-year-old Chante Jawan Mallard struck 37-year-old Gregory Glenn Biggs, a homeless man, with her automobile, in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. The force of the crash lodged Biggs into the windshield. Mallard then drove home and left the man lodged in her windshield, where he died a day or two later.[1] Mallard was convicted and sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment for her role in his death.

Murder of Gregory Glenn Biggs
LocationAbduction: Fort Worth, Texas, United States
DateOctober 26, 2001 (2001-10-26)
VictimGregory Glenn Biggs
PerpetratorsChante Jawan Mallard
Gregory Glenn Biggs
Born(1964-08-16)August 16, 1964
DiedOctober 26, 2001(2001-10-26) (aged 37)
NationalityAmerican
Chante Jawan Mallard
Born (1976-06-22) June 22, 1976
OccupationFormer nurse's aide
Criminal statusSentenced to 50 years in prison
Criminal chargeMurder

Victim

Gregory Glenn Biggs, born August 16, 1964, was homeless having suffered from mental illness previously. He was married, with one son, and worked in construction as a mason.[2]

Course of events

Chante Jawan Mallard (born June 22, 1976)[3] is a woman from Fort Worth, Texas. On October 26, 2001, Mallard's Chevrolet Cavalier[4] struck the homeless pedestrian Gregory Glenn Biggs; at the time Mallard was believed to have been driving while intoxicated by a combination of marijuana, ecstasy and alcohol.[5] The force of the impact sent Biggs flying through the windshield, lodging him there.

Mallard then drove home, leaving the injured Biggs stuck in her windshield, and parked her car in her garage.

After the accident, Mallard did not notify the police nor did she get Biggs any medical attention, even though she was a former nurse's aide.[6][1] Occasionally, she would return to the garage to check on his status. When Biggs died a couple of hours later,[1] still in the windshield of her car in her garage, she called a male friend, Clete Jackson, for assistance. Mallard, Jackson, and Jackson's cousin Herbert Tyrone Cleveland took the body to a park and left it there, even going so far as to set fire to part of the car in an attempt to disguise the evidence. The three were each convicted on charges of tampering with evidence for this action.[7][8][9]

Trial

Mallard's trial commenced on June 23, 2003.[10] During the trial, Tarrant County medical examiner Nizam Peerwani testified that, had Mallard taken Biggs to a hospital, he would have recovered from his injuries. Other experts testified that they agreed that Biggs would have survived. "There's not a member of the Fort Worth Fire Department that could not have saved Mr. Biggs's life", testified Capt. Jim Sowder.[7] Mallard was convicted of murder in June 2003, with the 50-year murder sentence and 10-year tampering sentence to run concurrently. She will be eligible for parole in 2027.[3]

Aftermath

A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Biggs's son, Brandon, was settled out of court.[1] He later chose to forgive Ms. Mallard and the others involved in his father's murder. "I want to extend my forgiveness to Chante Mallard and let her know that the Mallard family is in my prayers", he said in 2003. In response, convicted murderers from around the country raised $10,000 as a college scholarship and had it presented at a ceremony to Mr. Biggs, who at the time was a 20-year-old pastoral ministry sophomore at Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas.[11] Since finishing his sentence, Clete Denel Jackson, who got time for helping move Biggs's body, has been in and out of prison on firearms- and drug-related charges. He was set to be released again in late November 2017.[12] Some puzzling aspects to the case remain. Although the arrest warrant affidavit says Mallard originally implicated men named Vaughn and Terrance, it was Jackson and Cleveland who confessed to moving Biggs's body. Police have not said whether they have identified anyone named Vaughn or Terrance. Mallard's relationship with Jackson and Cleveland remains unclear. Jackson's lawyer described his client and Mallard as linked romantically. Yet relatives of Jackson and Cleveland say they had never heard of Mallard.[1]

Media adaptations

Mallard's case was later adapted as an episode of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ("Anatomy of a Lye", aired May 2, 2002) and also as an episode of Law & Order ("Darwinian", aired January 7, 2004[13] – though the driver is allowed to plead guilty to obstruction of justice after an autopsy reveals that the accident was not the cause of the fatal head injury). The CSI TV adaptation is noteworthy for the show's decision to cast a white man as the murderer instead of a black woman.

The story also inspired events in the second season of Fargo, in which Peggy Blumquist (Kirsten Dunst) hits Rye Gerhardt (Kieran Culkin) and drives back home with him stuck through the windshield.[14]

This story also inspired a scene in the third season of the FOX procedural drama 9-1-1 when Stella (Stephanie Lemelin) hits a homeless man after crashing into him with her car. The man was also lodged in the windshield of her car by the impact. Stella suffers a head injury in the crash and drives around town with the man still stuck in her windshield for nearly two days before firefighter Evan Buckley (Oliver Stark) stops her. Unlike what happened in this incident, the man on the show survived his injuries and was rushed to the hospital.

Films inspired by the events include Stuck (2007, with Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea), Hit and Run (2009, with Laura Breckenridge), and Accident on Hill Road (2009, with Celina Jaitley and Farooque Shaikh).

See also

References

  1. Boyd, Deanna; McDonald, Melody (22 June 2003). "Fort Worth's windshield murder case and how it 'redefined inhumanity'". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  2. "Homeless man's mother: 'We wanted people to know he was loved'". Plainview Daily Herald. 30 March 2002. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  3. "Mallard, Chante Jawan, Offender Information Details". Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  4. Yardley, Jim (9 March 2002). "Details Disputed in Death of Man Lodged in Windshield". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  5. "Windshield Killer Takes Stand in Sentencing Hearing". Fox News. Associated Press. 26 June 2003. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  6. "Motorist given 50 year-sentence in windshield murder trial". CNN. 28 June 2003. Archived from the original on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  7. Steinhaus, Rochelle (25 June 2003). "Ex-boyfriend of driver describes disposing of accident victim's body". CourtTV.com. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
  8. "Woman panicked after touching man in windshield". CNN. 27 June 2003. Archived from the original on 27 February 2006. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
  9. "Woman faced murder trial after leaving accident victim on her car". CourtTV.com. Archived from the original on 3 April 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  10. "Timeline of Events in the Chante Mallard Windshield Death Case". Fox News. Associated Press. 27 June 2003. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  11. Blumenthol, Ralph (23 October 2003). "Victim's Son Is Given Award for Forgiving Father's Murderer". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  12. Zahir, Sorayah (26 October 2017). "Windshield murder remembered: Victim's son says 'I live it every day'". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  13. "Gruesome stories: Bar and grill". Snopes. Archived from the original on December 14, 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
  14. Tobias, Scott (12 October 2015). "'Fargo' Season 2 Premiere Recap: 'Waiting for Dutch'". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  • Smoking Gun Arrest Warrant Affidavit of Detective D.E. Owings.
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