Unfortunately, there’s a very sad story that’s come out of Lubbock recently involving the wife of Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville.
Nearly four months ago, Suzanne Tuberville allegedly ran a red light and crashed into a car in which 87-year-old Ira Purdy was a passenger. According to the Purdy’s family attorney, the man “just never recovered” from “a significant head injury, a broken leg, broken ribs”, resulting in his death last Friday.
“He was in good condition before the accident,” the attorney, Bradley Pettit, told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. "(The Purdys) went out to eat that day, they took trips, they had an active lifestyle. But he went downhill since the accident. He couldn’t get over the injuries. It’s hard at that age when you have that kind of head trauma … you don’t heal as you do as a younger person.”
The Daily Toreador, Tech’s student newspaper, wrote that “the investigation is still open due to the extent of the injuries one of the passengers sustained, and the recent death of Purdy.” The student paper, based on conversations with a local criminal lawyer presumably not connected with the case, notes that Suzanne Tuberville could ultimately face charges such as criminally negligent homicide or vehicular manslaughter, depending on the results of the Lubbock Police Department’s investigation.
The Lubbock District Attorney’s office is awaiting the results of that probe before determining whether charges will be pursued.
It remains unclear if Suzanne Tuberville was cited for the accident. Pettit claims a citation was issued, while LPD Sgt. Jonathan Stewart told the Avalanche-Journal one hasn’t. A source close to the Purdys told the student paper that a citation was issued six weeks after the wreck.
The Tubervilles have not contacted the Purdy family -- “not unusual” in this situation, Pettit stressed -- but did offer his condolences through a school spokesperson.