by JEN BIUNDO
In early May, a crowd of hundreds of local residents turned out to mourn 17-year-old Alyssa Marie Bargsley in a vigil ceremony, remembering her as a vivacious, fun-loving young woman who could brighten up the room with her smile.
Two months after Bargsley’s death in a golf cart accident, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) announced Friday that it will not pursue criminal charges against any adults for supplying the Hays High School junior and her friends with alcohol.
TABC Agent Michael Deans said the Llano office has concluded the agency’s source investigation, which determined that Bargsley and two friends, aged 15 and 17, consumed alcohol prior to the accident. However, the investigation found that the teenagers took the drinks from inside the house without the knowledge of adults.
Llano County Attorney Cheryll Mabray reviewed the TABC report and opted not to pursue charges for furnishing alcoholic beverages to the minors, a charge that requires proof of criminal negligence.
Providing alcohol to a minor is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
According to the DPS accident report, at about 7 p.m. on May 1, Bargsley’s friend, a freshman at Hays High School, was driving the golf cart down a paved street in Kingsland near Lake Buchanan. While swerving back and forth, the driver hit a bump in the road. Bargsley, who had been standing on the back of the vehicle, fell and fatally struck her head.
Investigators at the scene determined that the teens had been drinking. TABC’s Carson Starkey Amnesty Policy enacted in 2009 says that TABC will not charge minors with the possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages when someone has called 911 because of a medical emergency.
“It is our hope that publicizing this policy will encourage young people to call 911 if a friend is in danger from alcohol poisoning or any other medical emergency,” said TABC administrator Alan Steen. “We don’t want any life to be lost because someone is afraid of getting in trouble for underage drinking.”
