Tragic Irony : Alcohol-Wary Woman Killed by Alleged Drunk Driver

If someone had too much to drink with dinner or at a party, Marsha Morse would always warn the person not to get behind the wheel. And to protect her own life, Morse had been known to take cabs home rather than ride with people who were intoxicated.

All of which makes Morse’s death ironic.

On Jan. 7, Morse, 52, was hit and thrown 50 feet by an alleged drunk driver as she unloaded groceries from her car outside her apartment in the 13100 block of Riverside Drive in Sherman Oaks. She died in the street shortly afterward, leaving behind a 16-year-old daughter.

The driver, Randolph Gene Higgins of Van Nuys, was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.24%--three times the legal limit--and five convictions throughout Southern California for driving under the influence, according to police and court records.

Friends and relatives remember Morse as an outgoing, popular woman with quick wit and a positive attitude. Her death would be a loss in any context. But her friends say they feel a special outrage because the man charged with her death was a repeat offender.

“I felt like a part of me had been lost,” said Millie Raymond, Morse’s sister. “I felt like I’d been cheated of my sister. This guy should have been in jail.”

As he was being arrested at the scene, Higgins, 44, told police that he had taken several drunk-driving awareness courses and well understood that he was putting the lives of others in danger by driving while intoxicated.

“That’s why I don’t do it anymore,” Higgins told police, according to Detective Don Bellante of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division.

Prosecutors in Van Nuys Municipal Court have charged Higgins with murder, not gross vehicular manslaughter, the usual charge for the offense, because of Higgins’ previous record. They said they filed the more serious charge also because they believe Higgins understood the possible consequences of drunk driving--and therefore displayed “malice aforethought,” which is part of the legal definition of murder.

Raymond, 49, who lives in Glendale, had been close to her sister since they were growing up in West Los Angeles. Now, fond memories of her sister compete with feelings of anger and grief.

“This morning I got up and I stood in the shower and I cried,” Raymond said. “You hear about it all the time, and I knew it could happen to anyone, but it is so ironic that this would happen to her. . . . She didn’t drink. She didn’t smoke.”

Raymond, herself the mother of a 10-year-old boy, is especially concerned about the welfare of her niece.

The girl, who asked not to be named, came home the night of the incident with a group of friends and saw a commotion in the street. Neighbors rushed her inside before she could see her mother, and Raymond, who had hurried to the scene, told her that her mother had been killed. The girl had to be taken to the emergency room because she was so distraught.

“The stability she has known all her life is gone,” Raymond said. “Her home is gone. Her mom is gone.”

Morse was divorced from the girl’s father--who lives in La Habra Heights--12 years ago, Raymond said. The girl will be living in West Los Angeles with her half sister on her father’s side. They met with a therapist Thursday to discuss the new arrangement.

At the Artists Agency in Beverly Hills, where Morse worked as a talent assistant, co-workers said Morse will be remembered for her humor.

“She was one of those women who comes into your life with such great energy that you fall in love with her,” said Kristina Oster of Glendale. “We all miss her a lot. Everyone from our work went to her funeral. We closed.”

About 250 people attended Morse’s funeral Tuesday in Van Nuys. She was buried at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park in Glendale.

Higgins is being held at the Van Nuys Jail in lieu of $1-million bail. He pleaded not guilty to the murder charge Tuesday in Van Nuys Municipal Court and is scheduled to appear Friday for a preliminary hearing.

At the time of his arrest, Higgins was wanted in Beverly Hills for failing to appear in court on two other drunk-driving cases. He had no valid driver’s license, police said. His string of five convictions dates to 1975.

He faces a mandatory prison sentence of 15 years to life if convicted.

“I just can’t believe that he hadn’t gone to jail yet,” Bellante said.