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EDINBURG — A 29-year-old Pharr woman has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for an alcohol-fueled chase in 2022 from Progreso that ended in a fiery crash in Weslaco that killed a Mercedes High School senior on the verge of graduation.
Daena Nicole Gonzalez pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder, evading arrest and intoxication manslaughter.
The crash happened on April 30, 2022.
Gonzalez slammed into a vehicle driven by Jaime Garcia Jr., 18, who was on his way to visit friends. Garcia, who was about to graduate, had enlisted in the U.S. Navy, Weslaco Police Chief Joel Rivera said at the time.
At the time of the crash, police said her speedometer was stuck at 90 mph after it was recovered.
Garcia was pinned in the vehicle, which almost instantly became engulfed in flames, witnesses said at the time.
A preliminary autopsy report showed Garcia died from “extensive burns and charring.”
The deadly chain of events began that day — a Saturday — at 7:16 p.m. when someone called Mid-Valley Communications Center to report a woman in a blue Ford Explorer was throwing up at a Stripes convenience store on the corner of Military Highway and FM 1015 in Progreso.
As authorities prepared to respond, Gonzalez left the gas station.
It was then that Progreso Police Chief Cesar Solis pulled Gonzalez over on FM 1015, just south of Baker Road.
“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 at the time.
Solis, who saw signs of intoxication, asked Gonzalez to step out of her vehicle and requested backup from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
At some point during field sobriety tests, which Gonzalez was unable to perform, she got in her vehicle and took off.
The crash ended in Weslaco where Gonzalez hit the back of Garcia’s vehicle while he was stopped at a red light.
The investigation revealed that Gonzalez had been drinking in Nuevo Progreso prior to the pursuit.
After the crash, she was taken to a hospital for treatment for her injuries. Upon her release, she was taken to the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center where she has remained on a total of $575,000 in bonds.
