Plea bargain reached in drunken-driving case

Bill Gang

Tuesday, March 23, 1999 | 11:08 a.m.

A Henderson man has agreed to a plea bargain that will put him in prison for the maximum sentence on a felony drunken-driving charge over the collision that killed a third-grade teacher and injured two of her children.

Forty-year-old Jeffrey Marples waived his preliminary hearing Monday in a Henderson Justice Court as the first step in the deal that will keep him behind bars for at least eight years before he will even be eligible for parole.

He could serve as much as 20 years over the death of Nate Mack Elementary School teacher Cindi Turner and the serious injuries to her children, 3-year-old Kelsea and 5-year-old old Dustin.

Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said that in the plea bargain, the three original DUI charges will be consolidated into the single count. In addition, three counts of reckless driving and one count of involuntary manslaughter will be dismissed.

Marples is scheduled to enter his guilty plea April 12 in District Judge Jack Lehman's courtroom.

Booker said that if Marples' guilty plea to the single DUI count does not result in the maximum sentence, the DA's office can call off the deal and take the case to a trial.

Turner, 30, was on break at the year-round school in Green Valley where she had taught for eight years before the fatal collision on Valle Verde near Clearwater Canyon Drive.

A pickup truck crossed from the northbound lanes and hit Turner's Chevrolet, Henderson Police said.

Nate Mack Principal Teddie Brewer has described Turner as "an excellent teacher -- kind, friendly, upbeat. She was always interested in helping people, especially her students."