|
Only have a minute? Listen instead
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
EDINBURG — A 33-year-old Nebraska man has been sentenced by a jury after being convicted of intoxicated manslaughter for a deadly, fiery wrong way crash in 2021 in Edinburg.
Tyrone Dewayne Amos was sentenced to prison Tuesday for the death of 27-year-old Victor Bazan Jr., who was a passenger in the crash caused by Amos on May 4, 2021.
The jury sentenced Amos to 15 years in prison for intoxication manslaughter, to five years in prison apiece for two counts of intoxication assault with a vehicle causing serious bodily injury, and to 10 years in prison for manslaughter.
However, it’s not immediately clear whether the sentences will be served concurrently or consecutively. State District Judge Fernando Mancias said during the hearing Tuesday that he will decide that at a formal sentencing scheduled for Oct. 9.
The crash occurred on Highway 281 north of Edinburg.
Amos was convicted earlier this month following a four-hour deliberation by the jury. The sentencing, however, had been on hold as two jurors became ill with the coronavirus, court records show.
Attorneys representing the defense and prosecution made their closing statements at the sentencing hearing Monday morning.
Defense attorney Oscar Vega said Amos had a rather difficult upbringing and was moved from foster home to foster home.
“Despite the challenges, he built a life,” he said. “There are no perfect villains or perfect victims in this case. Just people who made choices. Some better than others.”
Chris Sully, also representing Amos, asked the jury to face what is fair and just.
“Unfortunately we can’t go back in time and [change things],” Sully said. “There are sometimes things that happen that are out of our control.”
Prosecutor Michelle Beltran focused on the events that led up to the crash in her closing statement.
“Tyrone Dewayne Amos chose to go downtown, smoke weed, take some shots, [have some beer],” Beltran said as she displayed photos of the wreckage to the jury. “He was trying to escape responsibility.”
Beltran said that when Amos was first confronted by officers he claimed he was the passenger, not the driver of the vehicle, and then later claimed he was drugged when he was found to be the driver.
One jailer testified that Amos was found with “hooch,” or homemade alcohol, in his footlocker when he was in jail for the crash.
On Monday, the jury heard from several of Bazan’s family, law enforcement and his then-fiance’s mother, San Juanita Martinez, as well as Amos’ aunt and uncle.
Martinez spoke on behalf of her daughter, Tania Ruby Soto, who was driving the vehicle Bazan was in when he was killed in the crash.
She opened with how Soto was currently in surgery due to her recent cesarean section incision reopening. Martinez added that her daughter is constantly reminded of the accident due to the injuries she sustained.
“There’s not a day that goes by that she’s not in pain,” Martinez said in Spanish.
(Courtesy Photo)
Soto now has several plates in her body held up by bolts and screws. She previously testified that she can’t carry her children anymore due to the pain.
Martinez described Bazan as kind and saw him as her own son due to how well he got along with her family.
She said that Bazan treated Soto’s oldest son, who was two at the time, as his own. The boy now visits his would-be father at the cemetery and leaves him drawings he’s made and toy cars at his grave.
Martinez also said that her grandson made frames for pictures he still has of Bazan in his room and speaks to them on a daily basis.
His father, Victor Bazan Sr., described his son as “easy-going,” friendly and hard working and stated that he had a lot of dreams that won’t come to fruition now.
“He wanted to settle down, build a home,” Victor Bazan Sr. said.
When asked how often he thinks about his son and his death, Victor Bazan Sr. stated that he thinks about it every day and remembers the times his son would visit him.
“…(H)e was my first boy,” Victor Bazan Sr. said.
Every family member asked the jury for the maximum sentencing for Amos.
A probation officer testified that Amos had left for Nebraska to work without permission, but according to his defense, Amos had permission to leave from another officer who no longer worked in that department.
State prosecutors also brought up Amos’ criminal history and how he had been convicted of robbery around 2013 and 2014.
The defense’s witnesses included Amos’ aunt and uncle, Nicolette Thompson and Gregory Foster.
Thompson, a retired Army nurse, testified that she’d be willing to help Amos get back on his feet and “set him on the right path” once he got out of jail.
She stated that Amos didn’t grow up in a good environment and added that he had started doing better when he was away from his mother and taken under the wing of his foster mom.
“She’s been a bad influence on his life,” Thompson said about Amos’ mother.
Thompson described Amos as a good person with a good heart who would give the shirt off his back if someone needed it.
She added that she’d financially support him and help him get his job back and stated that he’d be living with his dad, who’s also a retired military veteran, and his sister.
“He’s a good person and that’s why I’m willing to help him,” Thompson said.
Foster expressed a similar sentiment to the court stating that he will always provide his nephew moral support when he needs it.
Amos’ uncle added that he could get him work in the “car business” and give him a place to stay in order to keep him on track and sober.
