Two North Texas families impacted in New Year's Day quadruple fatality
TERRELL—The family of Arturo Martinez Gonzalez and Paul Hernandez are wondering how changing a flat tire turned into a roadside tragedy.
Paul Hernandez's mother and 10-year-old twins may have witnessed a New Year's Day morning tragedy, family members said.
Hernandez's sister, Nayeli Rodriguez, told CBS News Texas she lost her 19-year-old brother and her stepfather, 47-year-old Arturo Martinez Gonzalez. She said her loved ones were driving back from a New Year's Eve family reunion when they had a flat.
Mesquite police said the vehicle was in the 17100 block of IH-20 when Basilio Mares Ortiz drifted off the interstate into the repair effort on the shoulder.
Police suspect Ortiz was drunk. They said he killed Gonzalez and Hernandez. Investigators said he also killed Mario Guajardo De La Paz and a 15-year-old juvenile.
According to Rodriguez, De La Paz was her brother's friend. The 15-year-old, the family said, was De La Paz's younger brother. MPD did not list the two as such in a news release.
Rodriguez said they had desperately tried to open her brother's phone to reach the other grieving family.
Rodriguez said her family, who witnessed the incident on the scene, had no serious physical injuries. The emotional scars are a different story.
The family has planned to stay with their mother in Terrell as long as needed. In the meantime, they are fundraising for two funerals.
Ortiz faces four counts of intoxication manslaughter. He's being held in the Mesquite City Jail. The 35-year-old is set to go before a magistrate on the charges on Thursday.
Public records show he faced a public intoxication charge in the same county in 2021.
