Man charged with intoxicated manslaughter was facing previous DWI charge
With his wrists put together, he raised them above his head as he walked toward an El Paso County Sheriff’s Deputy who pulled up to the crash site.
“It was me. I killed them,” 24-year-old Alberto Coronado said.
Sheriff’s deputies say on Sunday afternoon, Coronado’s F-250 pickup truck sped through a stop sign in a Montana Vista neighborhood striking a Chevy Malibu and killing everyone inside.
Among the dead are a couple, a teenager and two children.
“The people were all bleeding and it was hard to see that,” a young eyewitness said.
Sheriff’s officials have publicly released the names of the five victims: Humberto Alferez, 63; Aurora Sombra, 52; and Jasmine Alferez, 18; Demarco Morales, 11; and Brenda Morales, 12.
Sources say Humberto Alferez was the grandfather of the teen and the children, who were visiting him from Dallas on their summer break.
Sources say Sombra was Alferez’s girlfriend.
The family is not speaking to media at this time.
The driver of the truck, Alberto Coronado, is now facing five counts of intoxicated manslaughter and remains in jail.
Sheriff’s officials confirm that a blood test, with blood drawn from Coronado at a local hospital after the crash, shows he was intoxicated.
ABC-7 was the first to confirm details on Coronado’s past.
Coronado was arrested on December 23, 2011, after a state trooper pulled over Coronado for suspicion of driving while intoxicated.
In the charges, the trooper states that through either a blood, breath or urine test, Coronado’s blood-alcohol content was measured at a .189, more than twice the legal limit.
Coronado was charged with a Class-A misdemeanor for DWI, which was upgraded due to the elevated level of his BAC.
Coronado’s first court date was set for August 1, 2012, in that case.
ABC-7 was the only media outlet to speak Coronado’s sister who was with him before he left his family’s Montana Vista home and got on the road Sunday afternoon.
“We tried to talk him out of it, to make him react,” Coronado’s sister said. “But he wouldn’t give in.”
Coronado’s sister says her brother had been struggling with alcohol and drugs, but he was too stubborn.
A fundraiser for the Alferez family is being held today from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. at a shopping center located at 13921 Montana.
