Cynthia Lee Quiroz’s belongings are all still in the home where she lived with her husband, a Texas Ranger, and her two daughters.
But she’ll never walk through her front door again.
Mario Alberto Juarez, a 29-year-old Peñitas man, killed her on Aug. 16, 2020, when he drove nearly 90 mph through a red light at the intersection of Mile 2 and Shary Road and slammed into her white Chevrolet Cruze.
Juarez also killed his brother, 35-year-old Julio Cesar Juarez, who was the passenger in the red Toyota Corolla he was driving.
Mission police arrested Mario at the scene of the crash. Investigators reported finding beer cans in the Toyota Corolla and say Mario, who admitted to drinking earlier that day, had bloodshot eyes and some loss of balance.
He was charged on two counts of intoxication manslaughter and in March a Hidalgo County grand jury indicted him on those charges and an additional two counts of manslaughter.
On Thursday afternoon, Mario pleaded guilty to a single count of manslaughter.
In a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop both counts of intoxication manslaughter and Mario’s mother, Alma Juarez, told state District Judge Roberto “Bobby” Flores that she was in agreement with prosecutors to not pursue the remaining count of manslaughter.
Flores sentenced Mario to the maximum term allowable by law: 20 years.
The judge did not mince words during the sentencing, telling Mario and those attending the hearing via video-conferencing that he felt two decades in prison wasn’t a just sentence in the case because of his extreme recklessness on the road that day.
“Mr. Juarez, what you did is really senseless. It’s ridiculous. I don’t have the words to express the way I feel about this,” Flores said. “You just destroyed some families. I’ll never understand that.”
The judge also said he was just at a loss for words.
“There’s really no reason to be driving 87 mph on any type of road,” he said. “I’m at a loss of words to how I can express myself.”
Following the sentencing and Flores’ remarks, Quiroz’s daughters, Samantha Nicole Vela and Megan Renee Vela, and her husband, Donato Eduardo Vela, all addressed Mario.
Megan said she spent a lot of time trying to write perfect victim impact statement with the right words that express all of the pain, grief and suffering she and her family endured after her mother’s death.
She called her mother a light in the world and a beautiful person who died in a situation that would have not occurred if it hadn’t been for Mario’s carelessness.
“This is a far from perfect situation,” Megan said. “I have been grieving over a situation that should have never happened in the first place.”
She said her mother was her advocate, protector and best friend all rolled into one and never turned her back on her daughter.
“She would still love me for the imperfect person that I am,” Megan said. “It’s painful to refer to her in the past.”
And more than a year later, Megan said her mom’s death still doesn’t feel real and that she feels like her mom can still walk through the door at any moment.
“I hate seeing my dad lose the love of his life,” Megan said. “I hate that I have to stand in a room with all her things and feel a sharp pain in my heart.”
And none of this should be happening, she said.
“The incident showed me the importance of being mindful and not doing stupid things like you did by driving under the influence,” Megan said. “My mom should not have died the way she did.”
Quiroz died the day before her then 13-year-old daughter, Samantha Nicole Vela, began her first day of high school.
She told Mario how she was always a mother’s girl and had visions of her mother seeing her start high school.
“But now I lost that because of a decision you decided to make,” Samantha said.
She told him how no one her age should have to see their mother buried and how seeing her mom’s stuff around the house just breaks her heart more and more.
Samantha told Mario that he took an amazing mother away from her.
“I hope that night was worth it because now you are paying the price for it,” Samantha said.
Quiroz’s husband, Donato Eduardo Vela, told Mario that he didn’t believe his punishment fit the crime and says the way he sees it, Mario murdered his wife.
He said Mario’s behavior that day was a combination for chaos with a disregard for human life.
Donato added that he has been dealing with a lot of anger since his wife’s death.
He also talked about how he has been in law enforcement for more than 22 years and has put a lot of criminals away.
“I’ve never been on this side and now I get to experience it and believe me, this is not a good feeling at all,” he said.
Donato also talked about how he knew his wife would be telling the family to forgive Mario for taking her life.
“She’d be telling us you have to forgive and you have to believe in God and move forward,” he said. “But right now that’s something that’s difficult for us to do.”
