Harlingen woman sentenced to 12 years for fatal Combes crash

Erica Lynne Johnson

A Harlingen woman has been sentenced to prison for her role in a fatal two-vehicle crash that occurred in 2022 in Combes.

Erica Lynne Johnson, 39, was convicted of intoxication manslaughter for the death of Elpidio Huerta Mireles on April 3 and was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Wednesday, court records show.

At about 12:42 a.m. on July 16, 2022, Johnson was traveling southbound in a gray 2008 Kia Sorento with one passenger on Interstate 69 East in Combes, according to the initial news release from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Mireles was also driving southbound on the same road in a gray 2005 Chevrolet Suburban with a passenger who was identified as Leticia Cardenas De Mireles in the indictment.

According to DPS, Johnson veered left in order to avoid crashing into another vehicle and struck the Suburban causing it to lose control and “overturn multiple times.”

Mireles and his passenger were transported to Valley Baptist Medical Center where he died from his injuries.

State troopers stated that Johnson and her passenger fled the scene without rendering aid. Johnson was later found hiding in a field.

Charges of intoxication assault, failure to stop and render aid causing death, and failure to stop and render aid causing serious bodily injury were dismissed as part of her plea.

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