Murphy was a local hero from Rayville who made it big playing football for LSU and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Now, his name is tied to a horrific tragedy in downtown Baton Rouge. On a quiet Tuesday morning, police officers booked him into jail on a long list of severe criminal charges. The arrest follows a devastating collision that completely destroyed a local family.
The trouble started on the warm afternoon of June 14 right on Main Street. Witnesses watched a massive Ford F-250 pickup truck driving erratically and tearing through the city streets. Investigators later revealed that the vehicle was traveling at 58 miles per hour. That is way over the line for an area where the speed limit drops down to 30.
Murphy allegedly ran straight through a red traffic light near the Interstate 110 overpass without hitting the brakes. He blew past traffic control signals before plowing directly into a smaller Ford F-150. The force of the impact completely crushed the other vehicle, turning a routine drive into a scene of utter destruction.
Inside the struck truck sat three members of the Tarver family. The crash instantly claimed the lives of 94-year-old patriarch Robert Tarver and his 69-year-old daughter-in-law, Carla Tarver. First responders pronounced both of them dead right at the scene, while the driver, Bobby Tarver, survived with severe, life-altering injuries.
Murphy did not walk away from the wreck completely fine. Paramedics transported the former athlete to a local hospital to treat his own injuries. While he was recovering, detectives secured a search warrant to find out if he was sober. They ordered a comprehensive blood toxicology test to check for any impairment.
The results of that blood draw recently made it back to the police department, and the details are incredibly grim. Records show that Murphy’s blood alcohol content stood at a staggering 0.13. That sits well above the legal limit of 0.08. To make matters worse, authorities discovered he was driving with a suspended license and had no auto insurance.
Now, the 39-year-old faces an uphill legal battle with two counts of vehicular homicide and first-degree vehicular negligent injuring. The Baton Rouge Police Department is wrapping up its investigation into his driving history. A community that once cheered for him on the gridiron is now left watching him face serious jail time.
