Brownsville man guilty of intox manslaughter in crash that killed 8 migrants

BROWNSVILLE — A jury has found a Brownsville man guilty of being intoxicated when he barreled into 18 migrants outside the Ozanam Center at a bus stop, killing eight people. 

George Alvarez has been on trial on eight counts of intoxication manslaughter since Monday. He previously pleaded guilty to eight counts of manslaughter and 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on Tuesday prior to the commencement of witness testimony. 

The jury began deliberating the case at 3 p.m. Thursday, but was sent home about an hour later. 

They reached a verdict at approximately 11:15 a.m. after reconvening for deliberations at 8:30 a.m. 

In all, it took a little less than four hours for them to reach their verdict. 

The fatal crash — that made national headlines — happened on May 7, 2023 at approximately 8:29 a.m. 

Alvarez killed Jose Cario-Moreno, Cristian Sangranis Rodriguez, Brayan Garcia, Hector Medina Medero, Enyerbeth Cabarcas, Luis Matute Vasquez, Jorge Flores Colina and Richard Bustamante Perez that day. 

The crux of the case was whether Alvarez was high on cocaine. 

Defense attorney Cesar De Leon told jurors during closing arguments that the first thing Alvarez told him when they met was that he was not intoxicated — the attorney believed him. 

Prosecutor Art Teniente, however, painted a different picture. 

During closing arguments, Teniente said there was a mountain of evidence that says Alvarez was intoxicated and that everybody who had significant contact with him after the crash agreed. 

Witness testimony indicated a cocaine metabolite was found in Alvarez’s toxicology tests. 

Alvarez admitted to using cocaine, but said he last used it several days before the crash. 

The trial now heads into the sentencing phase.

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