Woman accused of killing man in drunk driving crash in Grand Prairie
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - A 24-year-old woman is behind bars after Grand Prairie police say she caused a crash that ended with the death of a 33-year-old man.
Details about what led up to the crash are limited, but police believe the suspect was under the influence.
Grand Prairie police say around 7:30 a.m. Sunday, a pick-up truck traveling southbound on Belt Line Road crossed over into the northbound lanes, striking a Jeep SUV near Lakeview Drive.
The driver of the SUV, identified as 33-year-old Carlos Alberto Aria Vera, died instantly. Police say a passenger in the jeep was taken to the hospital.
The driver of the pick-up truck that caused the crash, 24-year-old Clesiz Leiva, was charged with intoxication manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Clesiz Leiva
On Sunday morning, Sophie Austin was headed home from the gym when she passed by the crash.
"As soon as I was able to see, I saw the SUV flipped upside down. And O was like, ‘Oh my goodness!’" she recalled. "It’s just sad that it happened because it definitely could have been something that could have been avoided."
Austin didn't hear or see the crash. But when she passed it, emergency crews weren't at the scene yet and people who stopped to help were waving traffic around the crash. She believes if she didn't stop to get gas on her way home, she could have been there when it happened.
"I think the ten minutes that I took to get gas could have been the 10 minutes that could have barely just happened," she said. "It was very surreal to me to be there at that time."
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Grand Prairie police haven’t released further details about what led up to the crash.
"Maybe this was something just one bad choice, but it unfortunately took that one time to cause such chaos," Austin said.
Leiva is being held in the Grand Prairie Jail on a $125,000 bond.