The man who was driving an SUV which struck and killed eight people outside of a migrant shelter on the U.S.-Mexico border was convicted on Friday by a Texas jury.
George Alvarez, 35, allegedly lost control of his vehicle after running a red light, flipping his car on its side and hitting 18 people who were waiting at a bus stop in Brownsville, Tx., on May 8, 2023.
He will now serve 60 years in prison, after being found guilty on eight counts of intoxication manslaughter and 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The jury’s decision came over a year after the tragic incident in Brownsville, an active migration site along the border. All the victims in the crash were male, with several hailing from Venezuela.
After the incident, Alvarez tried to flee the scene but was reportedly restrained by several bystanders.
He apologized to the victims’ families after the verdict was handed down on Friday, saying “From the bottom of my heart, I’m really sorry.”
During the trial, Alvarez admitted to a lifelong cocaine addiction, and while defense attorneys argued that test results showed only trace amounts of the drug at the time of the incident, the jury concluded he was intoxicated at the time based on the evidence.
Maria Rodriguez Sangroni, whose 18-year-old son Cristian Jesus died in the crash, said the 60-year sentence was appropriate, but that she did not accept Alvarez’s apology.
“He’ll have to pay a divine justice. From that, no one is safe, no one,” she said. “This is a light punishment for what awaits him with God. He’ll have to be accountable to God.”
With News Wire Services
