Thursday, September 20, 2012 | Updated: Thursday, September 20, 2012 6:22pm
Associated Press

EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — A 15-year-old South Texas boy facing nine counts of murder crashed a minivan loaded with 19 people in April because he was bumped by a pursuing Border Patrol vehicle, his lawyer said Thursday.

The agent involved in that pursuit testified Thursday at a detention hearing in juvenile court that he only came upon the scene shortly after the April 10 crash. That countered testimony two days earlier by a Palmview resident who said he witnessed the wreck and saw the Border Patrol vehicle bump the fleeing minivan.

Ultimately, Hidalgo County district Judge Jesse Contreras decided the boy, who is not being identified because he is a minor, should stay in detention pending trial.

In addition to the murder counts, the boy faces 17 counts of smuggling of a person causing serious bodily injury or death and one count of evading. A decision on whether he will stand trial as an adult is pending. Six adults allegedly involved in the smuggling ring were arrested later.

Border Patrol agent William Ramsey testified that he and another agent had pulled over the minivan and a sedan after being told of suspected immigrant smuggling in the area.

"I saw that the van was loaded down and had a number of people," Ramsey said. As he walked toward the van a passenger jumped out and ran and then the van sped off. Ramsey said he returned to his vehicle and drove off fast in pursuit, but as soon as he turned the corner onto the highway frontage road where the wreck occurred the van was already out of sight.

"Within about a quarter-mile, I saw a dust cloud and a vehicle that was wrecked on the south side of the road," Ramsey testified. He described a heavily damaged van and bodies on the ground. At the scene, he encountered Albino Villarreal, a resident who Ramsey said helped direct traffic.

It was Villarreal who had testified Tuesday that he saw the Border Patrol vehicle closely pursuing the minivan and then bump it. A message left for him Thursday was not immediately returned.

"The van was not driving 100 mph, it was not the reckless driving of this young man and the purported behavior, but in fact it was a direct result of the contact, of being run off the road by the Border Patrol agent that led to these tragic deaths," Jaime Aleman, attorney for the boy, told the judge Thursday.

Prosecutor Amy Tellez had objected to the questioning of the Border Patrol agent, arguing that it did not speak to the question of probable cause that was needed to hold the boy in detention. She said it was clear that the boy was evading arrest when the crash occurred — he was arrested two days later — and that in his statement to investigators, he never mentioned being bumped by Border Patrol.

Judge refuses to release teen driver in crash - Houston Chronicle