Driver drunk at time of fatal accident

Preliminary autopsy results indicate a 21-year-old Brownsville man involved in a deadly accident early Sunday that claimed his life and the lives of two San Benito sisters had a urine alcohol content level almost three times the limit in Texas.

Rogelio Santillan’s alcohol content level was .22 early Sunday morning while he traveled southbound on FM 803 near the FM 511 and U.S. Expressway 77/83 interchange in his 1998 Ford Mustang. He then veered left into oncoming traffic hitting a 1997 Mercury Grand Marquis head-on, killing the driver, 25-year-old Juana Rodriguez.

A person is legally intoxicated in Texas with an alcohol content level of .08 or more, according to the Texas Penal Code.

Juana’s sister, back-seat passenger Brianda Yesenia Rodriguez, 17, was transported via ambulance to Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville and pronounced dead upon arrival.

Her other sister, front-seat passenger, Marisela Rodriguez, 17, was taken to Valley Regional Medical Center where she was treated for injuries.

Autopsies were ordered by Justice of the Peace Bennie Ochoa on Santillan, and the Rodriguez sisters.

Dr. Hilda Thompson performed the autopsies Sunday morning at Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen.

Thompson writes that Santillan suffered complex fractures to his skull, consistent with the lethal brain injury, and multiple body lacerations, abrasions, and limb fractures “consistent with the type of acute traumatic injury,” her report states.

According to the preliminary summary, Santillan’s cause of death was attributed to “head trauma secondary to (the) motor vehicle collision.”

Brownsville Police Spokesman Eddie Garcia said the police department would file an offense report against Santillan on two counts of intoxicated manslaughter and submit it to the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office.

By doing so, the Rodriguez family can receive assistance from the district attorney’s Crime Victims Program.

Thompson listed Juana’s cause of death as “from head trauma caused by the motor vehicle accident, complicated by intra-abdominal organ trauma and hemorrhage.”

Thompson writes Juana’s urine tested “negative for alcohol or drugs.”

The preliminary autopsy report shows Brianda’s cause of death was from a “spinal column fracture complicated by extensive intra-abdominal organ injury secondary to motor vehicle accident.”

A second deadly accident was reported Sunday night, claiming the life of Jorge Alberto Torres, 61, of Brownsville.

Police report that Marco Antonio Gonzalez, 26, the driver of a Jeep Cherokee was intoxicated when his Jeep collided with Torres’ Pontiac van at University Boulevard and East Avenue.

Torres’ wife, Lourdes Torres, remained listed in critical but stable condition Thursday night at Valley Regional Medical Center.