Daisy Joy Decker, 21, faces nine felony charges, including 2nd-degree manslaughter, intoxication manslaughter, and intoxication assault with a vehicle
A 21-year-old Texas woman was indicted by a grand jury last week for driving her car while allegedly drunk into a group of six people vacationing on Spring Break, it was reported on Wednesday.
One woman was killed in the collision, which took place on March 17 on South Padre Island in Texas.
Daisy Joy Decker of Sugar Land, Texas, faces nine felony charges, including second-degree manslaughter, intoxication manslaughter, and intoxication assault with a vehicle, according to KGBT-TV.
Maria Selena Patino, 19, of Los Fresnos, Texas, was the lone fatality.
According to investigators, Decker was driving in the bike lane in South Padre at around 1am on March 17 when she collided into the group of six people, according to KTRK-TV.
Immediately after the collision, Decker drove off. Police were able to track her down with the help of a tip.
Six people whose ages range from 16 to 22 were injured.
Selena Patino was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
She was on life support for two days until her family decided that there was no hope of a recovery and disconnected her from the machines, according to Los Fresnos News.
At the time of her death, Selena Patino was attending Texas State Technical College in Harlingen.
According to investigators, Decker was driving in the bike lane in South Padre Island, Texas, at around 1am on March 17 when she collided into a group of six people
She graduated from Los Fresnos High School in 2015.
Selena Patino’s close friend, Secilia Leija, 20, was one of the pedestrians who was hit. She suffered serious injuries.
‘Everything’s a little bit hazy, but I’m trying to remember little by little,’ Leija told Valley Central.
She spoke two months after the accident – a tragic end to what was supposed to be a festive Spring Break vacation with her friends.
‘When they got her she was unresponsive,’ said Leija’s mother, Elida Evans.
‘No pulse, unresponsive and they had to bring her back.’
Maria Selena Patino, 19, of Los Fresnos, Texas, was the lone fatality. She was on Spring Break with a group of friends
She was on life support for two days until her family decided that there was no hope of a recovery and disconnected her from the machines
Leija said the death of Selena Patino was particularly painful.
‘Like I lost the one person who believed in me,’ she said.
‘The one who always had my back. The one I trusted with everything. I feel like I lost a part of me. I lost someone close to me.’
Leija said she was working to regain the use of motor skills. She was learning to walk again.
‘I can’t fix myself,’ said Leija.
Selena Patino’s close friend, Secilia Leija (left), 20, was one of the pedestrians who was hit. She suffered serious injuries
‘I can’t walk. So, I feel like I’m not worth anything anymore.’
After the accident, the city of South Padre Island spent $30,000 to install barriers in order to prevent similar tragedies from recurring.
For Evans, however, it’s too little, too late.
‘You know and it’s good, but it’s kind of late,’ Evans said.
‘I think it should have been done a long time ago.’