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Man Driving Impaired by Meth Guilty in Death of Girlfriend and Unborn Child
July 16, 2026
Mark Pegg was sentenced to Maximum of 30 years.
A jury on Wednesday agreed that Mark Pegg was under the influence of methamphetamine when he rear-
ended a van on U.S. 231, killing his girlfriend and their unborn child.
State Attorney Larry Basford announced Pegg, 39, was found guilty as charged of DUI-Manslaughter in
the March 23, 2024 death of his 33-year-old girlfriend and their unborn child. Kristen Clark was 35 weeks
pregnant. Circuit Court Judge Dustin Stephenson sentenced Pegg to 30 years in prison – 15 years on each
count to run consecutively – and a lifetime of probation.
Prosecutor Frank Sullivan called 6 witnesses, including two experts who said the amount of
methamphetamine in the defendant’s blood after the wreck was well above therapeutic ranges and would
have impaired his cognitive functioning. The defendant, according to the evidence, never even hit the
brakes when he rear-ended a van stopped at a red light at U.S. 231 and State 390 that night.
“These deaths, this wreck, were a terrible tragedy and they were avoidable,” Sullivan said. “Two innocent
lives were lost all because this defendant decided to smoke meth and get behind a wheel.
“Whether it is from alcohol, or in this case high levels of methamphetamine, no one is safe from an
impaired driver,” he continued.
“The Panama City Police Department did an excellent job of thoroughly
investigating this case and determining the level of meth in the defendant’s blood was well above
therapeutic levels.”
The evidence showed the defendant was driving north on U.S. 231 around 12:10 a.m. March 23, 2024,
with his pregnant girlfriend in the passenger seat and a child in the backseat. A Bay County Sheriff’s
Office van transporting Spring Break defendants to the jail was stopped at the red light at U.S. 231 and
State 390. The defendant never slowed and slammed into the rear of the van, killing his passenger almost
instantly. The unborn child died due to the mother’s death.
An interview at the hospital following the crash showed the defendant was asleep when police tried to
question him around 2 a.m. Once awake, police bodycam showed he was groggy – he had not been
sedated at the hospital – and fell back asleep while being questioned.
State experts said the .43 mg/L of meth in the defendant’s blood – a therapeutic level would never exceed
.1-.2 mg/L – combined with his actions and the evidence from the wreck showed he was on the
“downward” side of the usage. That means the body is metabolizing the drug, the high is wearing off, and
the user becomes tired and depressed.
“They can be in a state where they’re sleeping and hard to wake up,” said Chris Chronister, Lab Director
at the University of Florida. “In this case (the high level) is clearly from use and abuse of
methamphetamine.”
Panama City Police Sgt. Preston Allyn said he woke the defendant up to interview him but he fell back
asleep. When he was told his girlfriend and unborn child had died in the wreck, Allyn said, he didn’t
really react.
“The best I can explain it is a lack of emotion,” Allyn said. “His demeanor did not change. It wasn’t the
reaction I was expecting.”
Basford thanked the Panama City Police Department and collaborative efforts with the Bay County
Sheriff’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
A jury on Wednesday agreed that Mark Pegg was under the influence of methamphetamine when he rear-
ended a van on U.S. 231, killing his girlfriend and their unborn child.
State Attorney Larry Basford announced Pegg, 39, was found guilty as charged of DUI-Manslaughter in
the March 23, 2024 death of his 33-year-old girlfriend and their unborn child. Kristen Clark was 35 weeks
pregnant. Circuit Court Judge Dustin Stephenson sentenced Pegg to 30 years in prison – 15 years on each
count to run consecutively – and a lifetime of probation.
Prosecutor Frank Sullivan called 6 witnesses, including two experts who said the amount of
methamphetamine in the defendant’s blood after the wreck was well above therapeutic ranges and would
have impaired his cognitive functioning. The defendant, according to the evidence, never even hit the
brakes when he rear-ended a van stopped at a red light at U.S. 231 and State 390 that night.
“These deaths, this wreck, were a terrible tragedy and they were avoidable,” Sullivan said. “Two innocent
lives were lost all because this defendant decided to smoke meth and get behind a wheel.
“Whether it is from alcohol, or in this case high levels of methamphetamine, no one is safe from an
impaired driver,” he continued.
“The Panama City Police Department did an excellent job of thoroughly
investigating this case and determining the level of meth in the defendant’s blood was well above
therapeutic levels.”
The evidence showed the defendant was driving north on U.S. 231 around 12:10 a.m. March 23, 2024,
with his pregnant girlfriend in the passenger seat and a child in the backseat. A Bay County Sheriff’s
Office van transporting Spring Break defendants to the jail was stopped at the red light at U.S. 231 and
State 390. The defendant never slowed and slammed into the rear of the van, killing his passenger almost
instantly. The unborn child died due to the mother’s death.
An interview at the hospital following the crash showed the defendant was asleep when police tried to
question him around 2 a.m. Once awake, police bodycam showed he was groggy – he had not been
sedated at the hospital – and fell back asleep while being questioned.
State experts said the .43 mg/L of meth in the defendant’s blood – a therapeutic level would never exceed
.1-.2 mg/L – combined with his actions and the evidence from the wreck showed he was on the
“downward” side of the usage. That means the body is metabolizing the drug, the high is wearing off, and
the user becomes tired and depressed.
“They can be in a state where they’re sleeping and hard to wake up,” said Chris Chronister, Lab Director
at the University of Florida. “In this case (the high level) is clearly from use and abuse of
methamphetamine.”
Panama City Police Sgt. Preston Allyn said he woke the defendant up to interview him but he fell back
asleep. When he was told his girlfriend and unborn child had died in the wreck, Allyn said, he didn’t
really react.
“The best I can explain it is a lack of emotion,” Allyn said. “His demeanor did not change. It wasn’t the
reaction I was expecting.”
Basford thanked the Panama City Police Department and collaborative efforts with the Bay County
Sheriff’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
