Prosecutors announced Thursday morning that they’d rather take a 23-year-old Pharr man to trial than let him plead guilty to a judge for allegedly killing a teen after driving drunk and crashing into an apartment complex.
Jesus Cruz’s attorney, Rick Montalvo, said during his client’s previous court appearance that Cruz intended to plead guilty to state District Judge Fernando Mancias and was ready to do so that day, but prosecutors asked for a brief continuance to discuss that development.
Cruz was charged with intoxicated manslaughter with a vehicle and intoxication assault with a vehicle.
Pharr police allege he crashed into an apartment complex in the 200 block of North Veterans Boulevard at 3:33 a.m. on June 28, 2021, killing 16-year-old Jastin Rios and sending a 12-year-old to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The department’s preliminary investigation alleges Cruz was driving a black Chevy Equinox at a high rate of speed when he lost control and crashed into the apartment.
Video previously released by police, which is no longer available on the department’s Facebook page, shows the vehicle barreling along the road before veering off the street and crashing into the residence.
As for his proposed guilty plea, Cruz had not reached a plea deal with the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office and had previously rejected a deal prosecutors had offered.
Cruz had intended to plead guilty to both counts of the indictment to Mancias on Thursday. But after prosecutors announced they wanted to take him to trial, he could not make that plea.
A trial date has been scheduled for late April.
Cruz remained jailed Thursday on a total of $250,000 in bonds, online records show.
He previously pleaded not guilty to the indictment.
