Wrong-way driver kills Dallas mother, himself in I-20 wreck
DALLAS - A wrong-way driver caused a crash on I-20 Tuesday morning that killed a mother of four and himself.
The crash happened around 4 a.m. near I-20 and I-35E. Detectives are trying to figure out how the driver entered the interstate going the wrong way.
Erica Sylvia and her four children would have been celebrating her 31st birthday in five days. Instead, the mother was killed in a crash caused by a wrong-way driver.
The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office says a white Chevy Silverado hit Sylvia head-on in her black Lexus IS 250 around 4 a.m. Witnesses say 35-year-old Julio Sanchez was driving that Chevy westbound in the eastbound left lane of I-20 near I-35E. Sylvia was killed on impact. Sanchez died at the hospital.
Dallas sheriff’s detectives are investigating how and why Sanchez was driving the wrong way and are working to determine where he entered the freeway moving in the wrong direction. Sanchez’s family declined to comment Tuesday evening.
Sanchez was recently arrested in February for assault on an elderly or disabled person. He was set to appear in court in a week.
Sylvia’s family respectfully did not wish to interview Tuesday. Her neighbor, Ed White, is concerned about her four children without their mother.
“It’s going to be rough on them,” he said. “I feel for them."
The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office says debris from their crash hit a Dodge Ram truck, but that driver is okay.