Brownsville man found guilty of drug-related manslaughter in crash that killed 8 migrants

BROWNSVILLE – A jury has found a Brownsville man guilty of being drunk when he plowed into 18 migrants at a bus stop outside the Ozanam Center, killing eight people.

George Alvarez has been on trial since Monday for eight counts of manslaughter while intoxicated. He had already pleaded guilty to eight counts of manslaughter and ten counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on Tuesday before the witness hearing began.

The jury began deliberating the case at 3 p.m. on Thursday, but was sent home about an hour later.

They reached a verdict at around 11:15 a.m. after meeting again for deliberations at 8:30 a.m.

In total, it took just under four hours for them to reach their verdict.

The fatal accident, which made national headlines, occurred on May 7, 2023 at around 8:29 a.m.

Alvarez killed Jose Cario-Moreno, Cristian Sangranis Rodriguez, Brayan Garcia, Hector Medina Medero, Enyerbeth Cabarcas, Luis Matute Vasquez, Jorge Flores Colina and Richard Bustamante Perez that day.

The crux of the case was whether Alvarez was under the influence of cocaine.

Defense attorney Cesar De Leon told the jury in his closing argument that the first thing Alvarez told him when they met was that he was not drunk – the attorney believed him.

However, prosecutor Art Teniente painted a different picture.

In his closing argument, Teniente said there was a mountain of evidence that Alvarez was drunk and everyone who had significant contact with him after the accident agreed.

Witness testimony indicated that toxicology tests on Alvarez found a cocaine metabolite.

Alvarez admitted to using cocaine, but said he last used it several days before the accident.

The trial is now entering the sentencing phase.