Sobering reality: Brownsville ISD urges graduations free from alcohol, drugs

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One by one, Cameron County’s top law enforcement officials on Thursday implored the senior class at Rivera Early College High School to celebrate the 2025 graduation season without driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The morning started with a staged DWI accident in front of Rivera along FM 802 that resulted in one death and two near fatalities. True to the norm in many such cases, the driver escaped with only minor injuries and was arrested at the scene.

“I know it’s an exciting time for all of you. You’re getting ready to graduate, you’re getting ready to go to prom. There’s ways to have fun without having to drink, without having to do drugs, but if you’re going to do it, it’s illegal to drink at this age, but if you’re going to do it, designate a driver, one of your friends. Have somebody be the designated driver. Call an Uber, call your parents,” Pct. 4 Cameron County Justice of the Peace Mary Esther Sorola said in the Rivera gymnasium not long after the class had assembled there to have their panoramic picture taken.

Later, District Attorney Luis V. Saenz challenged the students to prove him wrong, but predicted that someone from this year’s senior class would die somewhere in the Rio Grande Valley in an accident similar to the one the Rivera students had just witnessed.

Before Sorola spoke a mother who lost her husband in a DWI accident on Father’s Day 2023, spoke to the students about the void it left in her family’s life.

“It changes everything. It changes the way we have birthdays, how we have Christmas now. My youngest son just turned 18. We try to pretend everything is the same, but the void is there. …We became victims,” she said, standing in front of a coffin.

“While she was talking, you were sitting up there thinking that’s somebody else, but let me tell you, you’re wrong. It can and it may happen to you. There’s a thousand every year in the state of Texas. I have to comfort mothers, daughters, sisters, brothers who have lost loved ones that are in coffins like this. I’m a prosecutor and I’m going to take him to court and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he’s guilty of the offense and I’m going to ask the judge and jury to sentence him to 20 years in the penitentiary. That’s my policy and they appreciate that, but they look at me and say, my son, my daughter is still in the cemetery. That’s not going to bring them back,” the district attorney told the students.

Sorola said responding to death is part of her job as justice of the peace, but confided it never gets easier.

“Usually what will happen is Brownsville PD will get the call. All our first responders Brownsville PD, EMS, fire will show up to the scene. If they determine someone is deceased, they will call dispatch and dispatch will call me. …Believe it or not, what you saw here this morning happens all too often. I see a lot of death, I mean that’s just part of my job,” she said.

Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Trevino urged the students not to let their best friends drive home drunk from graduation parties.

“If he is your best friend, you will not allow him to go home and drive drunk,” Trevino said. “It’s pretty simple, and every single one of you should take this to heart, not just on graduation night, but for the rest of your life. It’s not only your life that you’re about to take. You are about to take your entire family’s life, because your family now has to go to court and face the other person’s family.”

“Because of my daughter or son’s stupid mistake, you’re now here in court, and your family member is in one if these,” Trevino said, gesturing to the coffin.

As the assembly concluded, the students each signed a prom pledge for students and guests to remain drug and alcohol free and not to ride in a car with a driver who has been drinking alcohol.

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