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The 40-year-old Illinois woman who caused a three-vehicle fiery crash that killed two Tuesday, April 23, was going 85 mph at the point of impact, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Amanda Marie Bender was charged with two counts of criminal negligent homicide after causing a crash that killed her passenger, Jeremy John Hess, of Wisconsin, and Edinburg resident Sergio Delgado on April 23.
Around 9:43 a.m. that day, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper was dispatched to the intersection of Alamo Road and Texas Road in Edinburg.
Upon arrival, the trooper saw a Hidalgo County deputy administering CPR to Hess who had been ejected from the red Ford Escape that Bender had been driving.
The red Nissan Sentra was still engulfed in flames when the trooper arrived, but soon after the Edinburg Fire Department arrived and put out the fire which revealed the driver, Sergio Delgado, still in their seat and burnt beyond recognition.
The trooper then retrieved surveillance footage from a drive-thru near the crash site which confirmed the events of the crash, according to the affidavit.
The Escape was traveling east on Texas Road and approaching Alamo Road where the Sentra was traveling south toward Texas Road.
Meanwhile, a brown Cadillac was traveling north on Alamo Road heading toward Texas Road.
“[The Escape] disregarded the stop sign and went through the intersection at a high rate of speed as [the Sentra] and [the Cadillac] were passing through,” the affidavit said.
Bender’s Escape struck the Sentra’s right side with its front which caused the Sentra to spin out and strike the back of the Cadillac.
The Sentra continued off the road and struck a metal pole which caused it to ignite upon impact.
Hess was ejected from the Escape on impact and his body struck a parked Ford Econoline before coming to a rest on a patch of grass.
The Cadillac spun out as well due to the impact from the Sentra and ended up in the southbound lane facing south.
Delgado was pronounced dead at the scene. Hess later died at the same hospital Bender was taken to for medical attention.
The trooper arrived at DHR Health and made contact with the medical staff who told the trooper Bender may be under the influence, according to the affidavit.
A crash data retrieval conducted on the Escape revealed that Bender was traveling at 65 mph five seconds before the crash on Texas Road, which is a 30 mph speed limit zone.
“At the point of impact, the speeds of [the Escape] were 85 mph,” the affidavit said.
Medical staff told the trooper that Bender wanted to refuse medical treatment and flee the hospital to Florida with her mother.
Bender was booked into the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on Sunday on $2 million in bonds.
