PORT ARANSAS, Tx — A 53-year-old Corpus Christi man with a lengthy drug conviction history was arrested last week on a charge of intoxication manslaughter in connection with an August 2025 crash that killed a 21-year-old Del Mar College nursing student, according to Nueces County court records.
Robert Charles Curry was arrested April 30, 2026, by the Nueces County Sheriff's Office. Bond was set at $400,000 with a required ignition interlock device condition.
The victim was Halie Renae Johnson, 21, of Corpus Christi, according to her obituary. Johnson was killed Aug. 15, 2025, on Highway 361 near the entrance to El Cortez.
Johnson was a 2022 honors graduate of Veterans Memorial High School who had pursued her dream of becoming a nurse at Del Mar College. She had reached Level 4 of the nursing program and was set to graduate in December 2025 as a registered nurse. She was working as a nurse extern at Doctors Regional Hospital at the time of her death. According to her obituary, she was passionate about helping others and was described as radiant, smart and deeply loving by those who knew her.
Between 2016 and 2026, 15 people were killed on State Highway 361 between Port Aransas and Corpus Christi, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
What investigators say happened
According to a complaint affidavit filed in Nueces County, officers were dispatched to a major accident scene on Highway 361 on Aug. 15, 2025, where two vehicles had overturned. Officers found Johnson deceased in the driver's seat of her vehicle.
Curry, identified as the driver of the other vehicle, was standing on the highway shoulder with severe lacerations to his head and face, the affidavit states. A witness told officers Johnson was traveling southbound when Curry's vehicle crossed from the northbound lane into the southbound lane. The witness said she took evasive action to avoid Curry's vehicle before it struck Johnson's vehicle head-on.
Officers searching Curry's vehicle found blue plastic baggies consistent with narcotics use, two large bags of suspected methamphetamine, syringes, and other drug paraphernalia, according to the affidavit. Lab results from the Department of Public Safety Crime Lab showed Curry had .97 milligrams per liter of methamphetamine in his blood at the time of the crash.
Criminal history
Curry has a documented history of drug-related criminal cases in Nueces County. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to a third-degree felony possession charge and was sentenced to probation, which was later revoked. He was remanded to a substance abuse treatment facility in connection with a 2018 possession charge.
In February 2023, Curry pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance for a charge stemming from October 2021. He was placed on deferred adjudication and discharged from probation in March 2025 — less than five months before the August crash. Three additional drug possession charges from 2022 were dismissed as part of that plea.
At a magistrate hearing on May 1, 2026, Curry indicated he intends to retain his own attorney and plead not guilty.
