TX-WATCH: Sister shares story of loss after deadly DWI
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WATCH: Sister shares story of loss after deadly DWI
10:43 PM CDT on Wednesday, May 20, 2009
By JIM BERGAMO
KVUE News
Mario Rodriguez-Hernandez turned 22 on May 19. He spent his birthday in the Travis County jail.
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He's been there a month and a half after investigators say he caused the crash that killed three motorcyclists. Police say Rodriguez-Hernandez had a blood alcohol level of almost twice the legal limit, and it wasn't the first DWI arrest for the man who's been in this country illegally.
It was early Sunday morning, April 5 -- APD investigators worked an accident scene in Central East Austin. Witnesses told police a pickup truck -- traveling westbound in the 4200 block of East MLK near Springdale -- crossed the double yellow line, sideswiped a car and then collided into a group of motorcyclists in Austin for a charity event. A couple of hours later, in Houston, Anika Lee was awakened by a phone call that would forever change her life.
"I kind of just sat around for a minute like no, not my sister," she said.
Lee's sister, 38-year-old Audra Britt, was in critical condition after the crash. She had been riding on the back of the motorcycle driven by her husband, 36-year-old Maurice Britt -- a technical sergeant at Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio. Maurice was killed immediately. Lee rushed from Houston to Austin so she could be at her sister's bedside at Brackenridge Hospital.
"When I went in and saw her I just started crying because it wasn't her. She's always like the life of the party type person and for her to just being laying still like that, it wasn't my sister," she said, while starting to cry.
Lee and her family would stay and pray in Austin for the next six days. During that time, they learned from investigators the man who caused the accident, Rodriguez-Hernandez-- who was 21 at the time of the crash and who is in this country illegally -- had a blood alcohol level of .13 some five hours after the accident.
Court records show he had a previous DWI arrest in 2006. He was later convicted of misdemeanor DWI.
"I would like to know, did he really think about it before he got in the car or did he just jump in the truck and decide to just go?" Lee asked.
Audra Britt succumbed to her injuries on April 11. She was remembered by her younger brother Aron at her funeral in San Antonio.
"And even though she's gone, her memory will still live on," he said.
Two days after Britt's funeral, another motorcyclist, Keith Haliburton -- also stationed at Lackland Air Force Base -- died from injuries he suffered in the crash. That means Rodriguez-Hernandez faces three counts of intoxication manslaughter and three counts of failure to stop and render aid. He could face up to 75 years in prison.
"He killed three people. He needs to serve the maximum that's allowed, and he needs to be off the street because he could do it again, I truly believe that," Lee said.
According to the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration, nearly 40 percent of all crashes in Texas for the year 2007 involved drivers who had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or greater. That's the legal limit and above. It's why State Representative Dan Gattis pushed for mandatory blood draws in Texas for any felony DWI where a person has two previous DWI convictions.
"In a CSI world, people want that scientific evidence, so we have to give prosecutors the ability to bring that to the jury," Gattis said.
While she supports stiffer penalties for drunk drivers, Lee realizes that no changes in the law will bring back her sister and brother-in-law. But she vows to help spread the message of don't drink and drive -- even if it means having to share publicly her deepest pain and loss.
"It's not just that person that you've killed, it's the family, it's the friends. You know, my heart just really goes out to my nephew because not only did his mother pass, but his father passed, so now he has no parents," she said.
Nathaniel, 4, is now being cared for by his maternal grandparents. As for Rodriguez-Hernandez, his prior DWI was his first -- under Texas law it was a misdemeanor conviction. Prosecutors tell us, generally, people who are in this country illegally are not deported for misdemeanor convictions. However KVUE News has learned that because three people lost their lives as a result of his most recent DWI, the INS has placed a hold on Rodriguez-Hernandez, meaning if he ever gets out of jail, more than likely he'll be deported.
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