A 29-year-old man was arraigned Wednesday morning on an indictment charging him with two counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of manslaughter for the Aug. 16 fatal crash in Mission that killed two people.
A Hidalgo County grand jury indicted Mission resident Mario Alberto Juarez on March 23 on the charges for allegedly driving drunk and causing a crash that killed 40-year-old Cynthia Lee Quiroz and 35-year-old Julio Cesar Juarez, his brother.
The man was initially charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter, but the grand jury added two counts of manslaughter.
Authorities say Mario was driving in excess of 80 mph when he ran a red light at around 6:48 p.m. that day and crashed into Quiroz’s vehicle, killing her.
His brother, Julio, was a passenger in his vehicle.
A probable cause affidavit says a Mission police officer who responded to the crash found a beer in the red Toyota Corolla driven by Mario that was still cold to the touch.
Mission police say Mario admitted to being the driver of that vehicle and displayed red bloodshot eyes, as well as having some loss of balance.
“Officer Mendez stated that (Mario) admitted drinking earlier when asked if he had drank any alcohol,” the affidavit stated.
A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper reported finding several beer cans, according to the document.
Mario remained jailed Wednesday on a total of $1,050,000 in bonds on all four counts.
