HOUSTON – A Texas man has been hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries and is facing up to 80 years behind bars after he was seen drinking and driving in a Facebook Live video moments before a deadly crash that killed three people in Houston.
Three charges of intoxication manslaughter have been filed against Camilo Morejon, 47, by the Harris County District Attorney, according to KPRC, in addition to one count of intoxication assault.
Morejon was seen in the Facebook Live video behind the wheel on Sunday morning before crashing his silver Honda into a black pickup truck. The crash was caught on surveillance video at 7:53 a.m., just six minutes after the Facebook Live video.
Harris County prosecutor Sean Teare said “It’s very rare that we see the actions of a defendant that close in time to a horrific crash like this. But, it’s what happens, it’s what goes on in those cars moments before lives are lost.”
The Facebook Live video shows a bottle of beer being passed back and forth by the group inside the car and Morejon can be heard saying in Spanish that he drives better when he drinks, according to KPRC who provided the video.
All three passengers in the Honda died at the scene, NBC reported. The victims “have been identified as Leosveyks Gonzalez, 35; Ricardo Rodriguez Tamayo, 40; and Massel Rodriguez Tamayo, 32.”
According to KPRC, one of the passengers in the car was Morejon’s girlfriend.
NBC identified the driver of the truck as 45-year-old Pedro Hernandez-Martinez who was ejected from the vehicle at the time of the collision because he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. The intoxication assault charge could be upgraded if Hernandez-Martinez doesn’t survive.