A Texas jury has sentenced driver George Alvarez, who lost control of his vehicle and killed migrants outside a homeless shelter in May 2023, to 60 years in prison. Alvarez learned his fate on Friday after deliberations concluded on eight counts of drunk driving manslaughter, barely a year after eight migrants were killed in an early morning car crash in the Texas border town of Brownsville.
Breitbart Texas reported that the crash occurred at a time when Brownsville is the epicenter of the migrant crisis, with thousands of migrants crossing into Texas border cities every day. The migrants who died in the crash had been staying at the Ozanam homeless shelter on Minnesota Avenue after being released by Border Patrol to apply for asylum. Alvarez ran a red light, lost control of his car, and crashed into a group of 18 Venezuelan migrants who were standing at a bus stop waiting to catch a bus to downtown Brownsville.
When Brownsville Police officers arrived on the scene, they found six migrants dead. Two migrants died from their injuries after being taken to a local hospital. Several other migrants were seriously injured and are recovering.
The jury heard witness testimony earlier this week after Alvarez pleaded guilty to murder. Sentencing deliberations lasted less than four hours and concluded just before noon on Friday.
Alvarez has an extensive criminal record, including arrests for assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a public servant, auto theft, assault on a family member, DUI, evading arrest, and numerous other offenses. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for eight counts of DUI resulting in death and 15 years in prison for assault with a deadly weapon.
be report In a lawsuit filed by MyRGV.com, prosecutors asked the court to allow Alvarez’s sentences to run consecutively so he can be incarcerated for up to 80 years. State District Judge Adolfo E. Cordova instead ordered that the sentences be served so Alvarez will serve a total of 60 years for the murder charges.
According to MyRGV.com, Alvarez’s lawyers sought lenient punishment, citing his intentions to be a good father and that his father was not a father to him. Prosecutors countered that the people who died could never be saved and that Alvarez caused all of that suffering by choosing to drive while drunk. According to prosecutors, the crash is the most serious drunk driving accident in the city’s history.
After the trial, the Cameron County District Attorney released a statement thanking the jury, saying, “On behalf of the residents of Cameron County, the Brownsville Police Department, the surviving victims and the families of those who were killed, I sincerely thank the jury for reaching the right verdict. As a result of the defendant’s spontaneous actions and poor choices, eight innocent people lost their lives in a brutal and horrific way and the lives of ten additional innocent people have been forever affected and changed.”
Randy Clark Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the U.S. Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as Chief of the Law Enforcement Operations Division, where he led operations for nine Border Patrol stations in the Del Rio Sector, Texas. Follow him on Twitter: @RandyClarkBBTX.
