The latest on the case of a Texas teenager serving probation for killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck after invoking an “affluenza” defense
The latest on the case of a Texas teenager serving probation for killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck after invoking an “affluenza” defense (all times local):
3:30 p.m.
The mother of a fugitive teen who used an “affluenza” defense after killing four people in a drunken crash will have to wait a day to be arraigned.
Tonya Couch was taken to Tarrant County jail on Thursday after arriving at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on a flight from Los Angeles. She will be arraigned Friday on a charge of hindering the apprehension of a felon.
Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson told reporters that Couch was cooperative during the trip to jail. He says he didn’t speak to her about her son, Ethan Couch, who remains in a Mexico City detention facility.
Authorities believe the two fled Texas in November as prosecutors investigated whether Ethan Couch had violated his probation. They were arrested in Mexico late last month.
2:25 p.m.
The mother of a fugitive teen who used an “affluenza” defense after killing four people in a drunken crash has arrived at a North Texas jail.
Video footage showed Tonya Couch exiting a vehicle Thursday inside the Tarrant County jail in handcuffs and leg irons, accompanied by Sheriff Dee Anderson.
Couch faces a charge of hindering the apprehension of a felon. She’s expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon.
Her son, Ethan Couch, remains at a holding facility in Mexico City.
Authorities believe she and her son fled Texas in November as prosecutors investigated whether Ethan Couch had violated his probation in the deadly 2013 drunken-driving wreck. Couch received only probation after a defense witness argued that Couch had been coddled by his wealthy parents, a condition the expert called “affluenza.”
1:30 p.m.
The mother of a fugitive teen who used an “affluenza” defense after killing four people in a drunken crash has been returned to Texas to face charges.
Tonya Couch arrived by plane at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Thursday after an extradition hearing two days earlier in Los Angeles.
She was deported last week from Mexico, shortly after she and her son, Ethan Couch, were taken into custody in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta.
Tonya Couch faces a charge of hindering the apprehension of a felon. Her bond has been set at $1 million.
Authorities believe she and her son fled Texas in November as prosecutors investigated whether Ethan Couch had violated his probation in the deadly 2013 drunken-driving wreck. Couch received only probation after a defense witness argued that Couch had been coddled too much by his wealthy parents, a condition the expert called “affluenza.”
11 a.m.
The mother of a fugitive teenager known for using an “affluenza” defense in a deadly drunken-driving case is no longer in the custody of Los Angeles authorities.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s spokesman Nicole Nishida says Tonya Couch left jail at 5 a.m. Thursday. She declined to confirm whether Couch was on her way to Texas, but authorities there have said they would bring her back by Friday.
Couch is charged in Texas with hindering the apprehension of a felon and will be held on $1 million bond.
She was flown to Los Angeles last week after being deported from Mexico, where she and her 18-year-old son, Ethan, were arrested.
Authorities believe the pair fled there in November as Texas prosecutors investigated whether he had violated his probation in a car crash that killed four people.