DPS: Woman killed by wrong-way drunk driver on causeway

PORT ISABEL, Texas (ValleyCentral) — DPS troopers say a McAllen man who was driving the wrong way on the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway was drunk when he slammed into a car and killed a young woman.

The two-vehicle crash occurred at 1:45 a.m. on the eastbound lanes of the causeway, according to a news release from DPS.

A preliminary investigation revealed a 2023 white Ford F-150, driven by 48-year-old Hugo Ernesto Lara of McAllen, was going westbound on the eastbound lane.

Troopers say Lara crashed into a 2008 red Kia passenger car, driven by 20-year-old Mariah Desiree Enriquez of Edinburg, who was traveling eastbound on the Queen Isabella Causeway.

Enriquez died at the scene of the accident. Lara was arrested and charged with intoxication and manslaughter.

Lara was transferred to the Cameron County Jail and is pending arraignment.

DPS says this is an ongoing investigation.