VIDOR — James Reeves opens up about how his mother died in his arms after a head-on crash last month.
Vivian Markle was driving southbound on FM 105 when Reeves says a drunk driver crossed into the opposite lane and hit his mother.
“My two girls are my mother and my wife, I had one of my girls taken away from me,” Reeves said.
A son is still grieving the loss of his mother, Vivian Markle. Almost a month ago, James Reeves went to get gas. He drove north on FM 105 and witnessed something he'll never forget. His mother's truck was hit head-on.
"She passed right there, so now I don't know what to do," Reeves said.
The pain of James losing his mother did not sink in until two days after the crash.
"She died on the third [of June], her birthday was the fifth, I was sitting in front of funeral directors setting up her funeral for her birthday," Reeves explained.
Reeves did all he could to make his mother happy in the years after his mother beat breast cancer.
She was often seen with the red hat ladies around Vidor. Vivian also loved riding motorcycles with her son.
Those happy times were cut short when Blake Travis Bowen, was allegedly driving drunk and hit Markle.
A crash report says Bowen's blood alcohol content level was .213, almost three times the legal limit.
"In today's world, being this drunk, driving on the roads is not an accident, that's a choice," Reeves said.
It’s a choice that leaves Reeves with only memories of his mother. He says there's only one thing that could heal his pain.
"Before I can get over the hump, I'm going to need to see legal justice served to the fullest. And it's going to take the people to do that," Reeves said.
According to the crash report, DPS troopers plan on filing intoxication manslaughter charges against Bowen.
Reeves says it may be a year before the case reaches a trial.