The Texas Department of Public Safety has charged a 26-year-old Weslaco man with murder for allegedly causing the three-vehicle fatal crash in Donna Thursday afternoon while fleeing authorities.
Jail records indicate DPS booked Matthew Ryan Cortez into the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on charges of murder, evading arrest and possession of marijuana for the crash that killed 53-year-old Donna resident Lili Sanlucar Hernandez.
In a news release, DPS said troopers are investigating the crash that happened at 2:45 p.m. Thursday on FM 493 of Stites Road in Donna.
The preliminary investigation indicated Cortez ran from law enforcement in a black Nissan Altima within Donna’s city limits and traveled southbound on FM 493 south of U.S. 83.
Meanwhile, a blue Saturn ION occupied by four people was traveling southbound on FM 493 south of Stites Road, while a blue Toyota passenger car with one occupant traveled northbound on FM 493, also south of Stites Road, according to the release.
When Cortez made a u-turn to continue traveling northbound on FM 493, DPS said he hit the Saturn and the Toyota.
Hernandez died at the scene and the three other occupants of the Saturn and the Toyota’s driver were taken to a local hospital.
As of early Friday afternoon, a bond had not yet been set for Cortez.
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