Mother, Daughter Killed in Suspected Drunken Driving Crash

A man with three previous driving while intoxicated convictions has been charged in the deaths of a mother and her daughter in an Easter morning crash.

Kandace Hull, her three children and her husband, Tony, where rear-ended in the northbound lanes of Interstate 35E near State Highway 121 in Lewisville at about 2:15 a.m. Police said John Patrick Barton was suspected of driving while intoxicated and at a high rate of speed.

Kandace Hull, who was driving, died at the scene. Her 14-year-old daughter, Autumn Caudle, died eight hours later at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

Tony Hull, 33, and two children were still being treated at local hospitals Monday morning. The children were in stable condition at Children's Medical Center, and their father remains the in the intensive care unit at Parkland.

Barton was arrested and initially charged with intoxication manslaughter. Police later upgraded the charges to murder because his previous DWI convictions enhanced the drunken driving charge to a felony.

He was arrested on DWI charges in Denton County in 1999. He completed probation for a second drunken-driving conviction in 2001. Barton was arrested again in Tarrant County in 2008.

Caudle was an eighth grader in Argyle. Her friends said she loved playing basketball and always had a smile on her face.

"Autumn, she's a very lively kid," said Paige Gwartney, a family friend. "She's always happy. She's probably the all-around nicest person I know. Everyone is talking about  (how) she always smiles at them in the hallway and how it makes their day completely."

The high school students at Argyle wore blue -- Caudle's favorite color -- on Monday to honor her. On Tuesday, they plan to wear white.

"We decided to wear white for her entry into heaven," said Cheyanne Winn, a family friend.

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