The 29-year-old Edinburg man accused of killing a woman in a wrong-way crash on Christmas told investigators he walked to a hospital to get medical attention after leaving the scene of the crash, according to an affidavit for his arrest.
Edinburg police have charged Otis Charles Barron with intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle, two counts of intoxication assault with a vehicle causing serious bodily injury, accident involving death and two counts of accident involving serious bodily injury.
The crash, which happened at about 2:28 a.m. in the area of Trenton Road and Professional Drive, killed Sylvia Martinez De Garza and injured two passengers in the car she was driving, including one who suffered a broken leg.
Police say Barron’s truck crossed into the oncoming lane in the 400 block of west Trenton Road and hit the 2013 Nissan Sentra Martinez was driving head-on.
Barron left his vehicle at the scene and was arrested at approximately 7:50 a.m. by officers staking out his residence in the 1700 block of N. McColl Road.
The affidavit also indicates that several bystanders assisted the first officer on scene with removing people from the Nissan and that one of those bystanders was employed by EMS in Florida and performed CPR on Martinez.
Investigators say they determined Barron was the suspect after running the plates on the black 2011 Nissan Titan that he left near the scene of the crash. That vehicle was found in the 1100 block of west Trenton Road.
Police then found Barron’s address and went there. An officer noticed his back door was unsecured, according to the affidavit, which said police found personal information at the residence that belonged to Barron.
When Barron arrived home, police said he was covered in dry mud and that his clothing was disorderly. Investigators said he voluntarily told them he was the one involved in the crash and he also had the keys to the vehicle he left at the scene.
The affidavit said he walked home after walking to the hospital for medical attention.
Investigators said Barron had red blood shot eyes, slurred speech and smelled of alcohol.
“Officer Hernandez will testify that once Otis arrived at the Edinburg Police Department, he began to escort him to the intoxilyzer room to conduct his investigation and Otis then asked Hernandez if he had killed someone due to the investigators removing his clothing during the booking process,” the affidavit said.
During an interview, police said Barron confessed to being the driver and leaving the scene of the collision.
Barron was booked Sunday into the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center, where he remained jailed Monday on a total of $800,000 in bonds.
