Texas Car Crash Update: Driver Identified, Charged With Manslaughter

By Rick Martin First Posted: May 09, 2023 01:38 AM EDT

The driver involved in the Texas car crash near a migrant shelter in Brownsville that killed eight people and injured 10 others has been charged with eight counts of manslaughter.

Brownsville Police chief Felix Sauceda said Monday that the driver was identified as 34-year-old George Alvarez, who slammed his vehicle into a group of migrants on Sunday morning.

Police noted that Alvarez had an extensive criminal history, including charges of assault and driving while intoxicated. According to CNN, his new charges don't just include eight counts of manslaughter but also 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Sauceda said the driver's bond was set at $3.6 million, with the Brownsville Police Department investigating the cause of the crash.

The chief noted that Alvarez was driving a gray Land Rover when he lost control and flipped on its side after running a red light. He reportedly hit a total of 18 people.

Texas Car Crash Survivors Recall Horrific Incident

Authorities said around 20 to 25 migrants, who had recently arrived from Venezuela and were seeking refuge, were waiting at a bus stop across the street from the Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center when George Alvarez hit them.

The center is a non-profit homeless shelter helping to house several migrants. Luis Herrera was one of them, and he spoke to Valley Central about his horrific experience. Herrera and his friends were hit by the vehicle.

"We were going to the airport and it happened unexpectedly because a woman in a car passed by and advised us to separate and moments later the killer was coming in the car gesturing and insulting us," he told the outlet.

Another survivor, Jesus, who was staying at the shelter and also heading to the airport to travel to Utah after his family bought him a plane ticket, said the truck "sped through the traffic light and by the grace of God nothing happened to us, but they did hit the others around us."

Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez said they still have no evidence that the crash was intentional, but noted that investigations continue despite the driver being apprehended and charged.

Texas Car Crash Victims Were Mostly Venezuelan Migrants

The Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center is known to house migrants from both Central and South America.

Victor Maldonado, director of the shelter, said he had already reviewed surveillance footage of the crash and confirmed that George Alvarez's vehicle ran the red light and plowed into the group of migrants waiting at the bus stop.

Maldonado confirmed that most of the victims who died in the Texas car crash were Venezuelan migrants. However, the victims have yet to be publicly named.

Another survivor, Freddy Granadillo, told The Guardian that the driver was yelling slurs before the incident happened.

"He said 'damn your mother, immigrants'," said Granadillo, who came from Venezuela. He recalled the driver saying, "Leave my country."

The Venezuelan migrant told the outlet that after the crash happened, he tried to help but admitted he could not do anything,

A memorial mass was held on Sunday evening for those who died, with Bishop Daniel Flores of the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville leading the mass. He noted that "migrants feel driven to reach the border and seek refuge and security in the US."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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