WESLACO — Police here have charged a woman with murder for causing what authorities believe was an alcohol-fueled chase and subsequent high-speed crash that killed a Progreso teen this weekend.
Weslaco municipal judge Juan Alvarez on Tuesday charged Daena Nicole Gonzalez, 27, with one count of murder while she was still hospitalized for injuries she sustained during the collision.
Gonzalez is being held on a $1 million bond and will be transferred to the Hidalgo County jail once she is released from the hospital.
Gonzalez allegedly struck a vehicle driven by Mercedes High School senior Jaime Garcia Jr., 18, who was on his way to visit friends.
“This is a senseless death,” Weslaco police Chief Joel Rivera said of the victim during a news conference Tuesday.
“This man was looking forward to serving his country and one person made a very poor decision that essentially sent ripples throughout the community,” Rivera said of Garcia, who had enlisted in the U.S. Navy.
Police say the speedometer of Gonzalez’s vehicle was stuck at 90 mph when authorities recovered it after the crash.
Officials believe Garcia was pinned inside the vehicle, which almost instantly became engulfed in flames, according to witness statements.
A preliminary autopsy report revealed Garcia’s cause of death to be “extensive burns and charring” and determined the manner of death to be homicide, Rivera said.
The results of a blood alcohol draw conducted on Gonzalez have not been released, though investigators have sought a subpoena for Gonzalez’s medical records, Rivera said.
The incident began at approximately 7:16 p.m. Saturday, when a caller informed the Mid-Valley Communications Center that a woman in a blue Ford Explorer was throwing up at a Stripes convenience store on the corner of Military Highway and Farm-to-Market Road 1015 in Progreso.
While the call center was preparing to dispatch the call, the woman left the gas station.
Progreso Police Chief Cesar Solis responded and intercepted the vehicle on FM 1015, just south of Baker Road, Rivera said.
“Chief Solis saw multiple traffic violations — explicitly running red lights and traveling at a high rate of speed. He initiated a traffic stop. The driver complied and pulled over,” Rivera said.
A Weslaco police officer was also dispatched to the scene, but was later “waved off by Chief Solis because there was another call for service for the Weslaco police officer,” Rivera said.
However, both Solis and the Weslaco officer observed signs of intoxication, including “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage,” Rivera said.
Solis subsequently identified the driver as Gonzalez and asked her to step out of the vehicle. Solis also requested backup from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Weslaco police chief said.
Though Gonzalez had complied in stepping out of the vehicle, she “was unable to perform field sobriety tests,” Rivera said.
“A short time later, between the time of a request for a trooper and the pursuit initiating, a Progreso police officer saw Ms. Gonzalez enter her Ford Explorer and take off at a high rate of speed,” Rivera said.
Solis then initiated a pursuit that led into Weslaco, where Gonzalez allegedly struck the back of Garcia’s vehicle while he was stopped at a red light.
The impact was strong enough to push Garcia’s car into the intersection, where he, in turn, struck another vehicle that had the east-west right-of-way.
No Weslaco police officers were involved in the pursuit, Rivera said.
Reached by phone Tuesday, Chief Solis declined to comment on the pursuit, citing the ongoing investigation.
“This is a very serious matter, okay? The case is still under investigation by another agency, so at this point, I’m not gonna make any comments regarding this specific incident,” Solis said.
Solis also declined to answer whether he had detained Gonzalez or placed her in handcuffs.
“I’m gonna refer back to what I just told you. I’m not gonna make any comments on this until this investigation is completely over,” he said.
The Monitor has submitted a Texas Public Information Act request seeking the Progreso Police Department’s policy manuals — specifically any policies regarding vehicular pursuits.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s crash caused four people to be transported to the hospital, including a passenger who had been in the SUV with Gonzalez, and two occupants of the third car involved in the crash.
All three suffered minor injuries.
Rivera said witnesses have confirmed that Gonzalez had been drinking in Nuevo Progreso prior to the pursuit. She allegedly crossed back into the U.S. on foot at the Progreso port of entry.
The murder charge against Gonzalez came as a result of her fleeing police.
“This and it is, in fact, murder because she fled from a person that she knows to be a peace officer and caused the death of another person. And that’s what qualifies this to be a murder,” Rivera said.
Rivera’s comments became emphatic as he described how Garcia’s death was preventable.
“Yet here we are today. This was a senseless act. It was a poor decision made by one woman,” Rivera said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with more information about the circumstances surrounding the crash, and to correct the sequence of the collision.
