Man pleads guilty for deadly crash at Ascarate Lake

Online court records show Diego Eduardo Gamez has pleaded guilty to a charge of “intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle.”

Gamez was sentenced to four years in prison in Judge Gonzalo Garcia’s courtroom.

In August of 2015, Gamez crashed into Ascarate lake. He was able to get out of the vehicle and run away, but sheriff’s deputies arrested him a short distance from the lake.

His passenger, Angel Omar Sanchez, was trapped inside the vehicle. After being removed from the Saturn, Sanchez was taken to University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Sheriff’s officials say the Saturn was traveling south on R. E. Thompson Loop inside of Ascarate Park at a high rate of speed.

Gamez failed to negotiate a curve, went off the road and vaulted into a grassy area near the lake. The vehicle then struck a retaining wall before rolling into the lake.