Texas judge revokes bond for mother of ‘affluenza’ teen
A Texas judge has revoked bond for the 50-year-old mother of a teenager who used an “affluenza” defense regarding a fatal drunken-driving wreck.
Tonya Couch was booked into the Tarrant County jail Wednesday. Court documents show that she failed a urine test required as a condition of her bond but don’t specify the substance the urinalysis revealed.
State District Judge Wayne Salvant had warned Couch last June to “use common sense” pending her trial on hindering apprehension of a felon and money laundering charges. She was charged after she and son, Ethan, fled to Mexico in 2015.
Ethan Couch is to be released Monday after spending two years in jail on a probation violation. A psychologist at trial blamed “affluenza” or acting irresponsibly due to wealth for his actions in a 2013 North Texas wreck that killed four.