Driver of SUV in crash that killed 8 had drugs in his system, police say

Police: Driver of SUV that killed 8 had cocaine, drugs in system - The Washington Post

George Alvarez, the man charged in the deaths of eight people after his vehicle rammed a crowd in front of a Brownsville, Tex., migrant shelter, had cocaine, benzodiazepines and marijuana in his system at the time, police said Tuesday.

The first toxicology report, which Sandoval said did not list levels of drugs in Alvarez’s bloodstream, was prepared by Valley Regional Hospital, where Alvarez was taken for treatment of injuries after the crash. Sandoval said police took a second sample, which they are testing to determine the level of drugs in his bloodstream.

That report will then be turned over to the Cameron County district attorney for a determination of whether charges should be altered or added, he said.

Alvarez, 34, is facing eight counts of manslaughter and additional charges stemming from injuries to 10 people.

While the police investigation continues, the community of Brownsville, a longtime migrant border town, mourned. Many of those who were struck by the SUV were from Venezuela and had arrived in the United States in the past week, part of a mass migration from the troubled nation.

On Monday night, a mother came forward to the stage at a candlelight vigil in Brownsville appearing exhausted, using a microphone to help her find justice for her son.

“I want that man to pay for what he did to my son, please help me,” said the woman, through tears.

Her son’s name is Hector David Medina Medero, his mother said, a young Venezuelan migrant who was a barber and had sought safety in the United States.

After she left the podium set up for speakers at the vigil, another young migrant took her hand and told her that her son didn’t make it.

The migrant who took her hand was later identified as Jesus Ferrer by Jared Hockema, chairman of the Cameron County Democratic Party, who helped organize the event.

“Your son cut my hair,” said Ferrer, who said he witnessed the crash at the bus stop. He held Medero’s mother as she kissed his haircut.

“She said it was the last place my son had touched before he died,” he added later, according to a video of the conversation.

The mother, dressed in black medical scrubs, wept deeply, holding her stomach and head in grief and falling into the crowd’s arms, said Melissa Castro, a community activist who filmed the event.

“She was just stunned,” Castro said. “This mother really showed people that these migrants were just human beings. Just regular people trying to survive in the world.”

Alvarez, who police described as having a record that included prior charges of assault and driving while intoxicated, was apprehended by witnesses after the Sunday morning crash, according to police and witnesses.

Brownsville Police Chief Felix Sauceda said Monday that Alvarez is not cooperating in the investigation.

Sauceda said authorities had not “ruled out” an intentional act. Alvarez’s bond was set at $3.6 million, the chief said.

“This was a very tragic incident,” Saucedo said.

Saucedo said that “several” of the victims have been identified as Venezuelan nationals.

The victims — among them a welder and a racehorse jockey — had come to the United States fleeing the political and financial turmoil that has ravaged Venezuela for years, according to migrant advocates and witnesses.

“You could see the victims wearing shelter clothing and had tiny bags of belongings with little photographs of their mom or family,” said Cyndi Hinojosa, Cameron County justice of the peace who had examined the bodies of the dead. “They had such meager things. I have a 23-year-old son and it just hurt so much to think of these poor moms who don’t know where their sons are or if they are alive.”