By Josh Siatkowski | Staff Writer
Over seven years after the hit-and-run death of Baylor student David Grotberg, a jury found Tammy Renee Blankenship guilty of both manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid Thursday evening. The jury spent nearly seven hours deliberating.
Blankenship will remain free on bond until Judge Susan Kelly of the 54th District Court begins the punishment hearing at 10:30 a.m. Friday. Blankenship faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each count and is eligible for probation.
Grotberg was a Fergus Falls, Minn., sophomore studying philosophy at Baylor. Around 10 p.m. on Oct. 6, 2016, Grotberg and his then-girlfriend were riding their bikes on the 3200 block of Franklin Avenue, where Grotberg was hit and killed by a vehicle, which witnesses said was moving fast and did not stop after colliding with him.
Blankenship, a former administrator of Midway ISD, was not suspected by Waco PD until it received an anonymous letter in 2018. Two years later, in 2020, Blankenship was indicted and arrested.
During the trial, which started Jan. 31, state prosecutors called multiple witnesses to testify.
Hannah Ashley was a coworker of Blankenship at the time. According to Tommy Witherspoon of KWTX, Ashley said in her testimony that Blankenship was in a state of panic when she came into work on Oct. 7, at one point even calling her into her office and saying, “I killed a kid. I killed a kid,” with an article about Grotberg’s death pulled up on her phone.
Ashley also said that later that day, she drove with Blankenship 30 miles away to Marlin, where Blankenship hid her car in the back of a Walmart parking lot.
Bret Page is a criminal intelligence analyst for Waco PD. He said that through cell tower data, Blankenship’s phone could be reliably tracked to the 3200 block of Franklin Avenue at the exact time of Grotberg’s death.
John Clark was the lead detective on the case. His testimony largely consisted of a 2018 interview with Blankenship. Her defense changed throughout the course of the 51-minute video, but she ultimately said she hit a stop sign — not Grotberg.
“I’ve been investigating wrecks for 12 years. That’s not from a stop sign,” Clark said to Blankenship in the video while showing her photos of her severely damaged car.
The punishment hearing will commence at 10:30 a.m. Friday.
