Police identify man killed in wreck Sunday morning; speeding and DWI blamed

Investigators with the police department believe speeding and drunk driving are to blame for the wreck that killed a man early Sunday morning.

The wreck happened on the 4100 block of Hueco Avenue at 2:39 a.m. on February 17, 2019.

Police said a preliminary investigation revealed 34-year-old Alma Perla Ortega was driving a white 2007 Subaru Impreza east on Hueco Ave. 45-year-old Jesus Varela was riding in the Subaru’s front passenger seat, police said.

According to investigators, Ortega was traveling “at a high rate of speed” as she traveled east through the traffic lanes on the 1200 block of Gateway South.

Ortega struck a raised curb, a chain-link fence, traveled over the US-54 Montana exit, and came to rest on the Trowbridge on-ramp of US-54, police said.

“Neither Ortega nor Varela were wearing seatbelts and both sustained serious injuries,” police said in a news release. Paramedics rushed Ortega and Varela to University Medical Center, where Varela died as a result of the injuries he sustained in this
collision.

Police said the investigation continues. Ortega has not been charged.