Christina Beck

A Decatur woman has been convicted of manslaughter in the 2016 vehicular homicide that killed her son.

A Limestone County jury took about 2 hours and 45 minutes to return a verdict against Christina Marie Beck, 43, of 3405 Tanglewood Drive.

Sentencing is set for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 3 before Limestone Circuit Judge Chadwick Wise.

Following a five-day trial in Limestone County Circuit Court, jurors received the case about 5:30 p.m. Friday. They had to choose whether to acquit Beck or convict her on either reckless indifference murder and driving under the influence or the lesser charge of manslaughter and DUI.

She was taken into custody after the verdict.

The wreck

Beck was initially charged with reckless murder in the April 21, 2016, fatal wreck on Huntsville-Browns Ferry Road in Limestone County. She and her 5-year-old son, Eli Cameron Beck, were driving in a rental car on Huntsville-Browns Ferry Road, a half-mile east of Interstate 65, when she crossed a bridge in the rain and slid into the path of an oncoming utility van driven by Joseph Beggs of Somerville.

The child, who was wearing a seatbelt but not a child restraint, was declared dead at the scene. Beggs was treated at Athens-Limestone Hospital. Beck was seriously injured but recovered.

Her medical records indicated she was “intoxicated (alcohol) and under the influence of marijuana at the time of the crash,” according to the incident report.

Beck was represented by Huntsville attorney Richard Jensen and attorney James Kennedy. Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones and Chief Deputy District Attorney Jim Ayers Jr. prosecuted the case.