Pharr man accused of fatal February crash indicted

Javier Garza

A 71-year-old Pharr man accused of killing the passenger of a vehicle he crashed into in early February is set to be arraigned next Wednesday.

Javier Garza has been indicted on charges of manslaughter, criminal negligent homicide and aggravated assault causing bodily injury charges for crashing into Maria Del Rosario Navarro which resulted in the death of her mother, Dolores Acevedo, on Feb. 2.

Video surveillance footage obtained from two opposite locations show that Navarro was traveling with her mother to their home in the city of Hidalgo when she turned eastbound on Dicker Road from S. 23rd Street on a protected green arrow, according to a probable cause affidavit.

As Navarro made the turn, Garza was traveling northbound on 23rd Street heading toward the same intersection, which was displaying red to northbound traffic.

Garza disregarded the light and crashed into Navarro’s vehicle which caused them to roll over twice, according to the affidavit.

Navarro suffered serious bodily injury including several broken bones while her mother, Acevedo, died at the scene.

After obtaining a search warrant for Garza’s vehicle, a reconstruction investigator revealed that the vehicle was traveling 60 mph while in a 55 mph zone and never hit his brakes.

“(Garza’s) failure to stop, slow down or maneuver his vehicle to avoid the collision showed total disregard for the safety of others when the traffic light had been red for approximately 20 seconds prior to entering the intersection and was reckless in his behavior to operate a vehicle directly into a busy intersection,” the affidavit states.

The affidavit further states that the investigation revealed Garza had traveled through the same intersection several times earlier this year and the weather conditions during the crash were recorded as being daylight, clear and dry.

Garza was jailed that same day on $20,000 in bonds and subsequently released.

He was arrested once more Wednesday and currently does not have a bond set, according to jail records.

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