Area man to serve 14 years for fatal 2000 crash

A Caldwell County jury sentenced Carlos Quintanilla to fourteen years in prison and a $10,000 fine for the felony offense of Intoxication Manslaughter resulting from an accident that occurred on April 19, 2000. In the accident, passenger Mary Parlin suffered serious injuries that required her to be on life support until November 2002, when she passed away. The jury heard evi

dence that Quintanilla was driving southbound on U.S. 183 around 3 a.m. on the morning of April 19, 2000, when it left the roadway on the east side of U.S. 183. The car then collided with a concrete drainage ditch which caused the car to become airborne and strike the ground front-end first. The accident caused Parlin to be pinned underneath the passenger side dashboard. Quintanilla was ejected from the vehicle and found just outside the driver”s side door.
The jury heard testimony from Jim Beck, an Austin police officer, who followed the car from Mustang Ridge and called 911 after the accident. Beck testified that the car was driving extremely recklessly during the approximately eight miles that he followed the vehicle. Beck testified that on two occasions the car traveled from the outside southbound lane all the way across to the outside lane of the northbound lane. The jury also heard testimony from the responding Lockhart paramedics, staff of the Seton Brackenridge Hospital, a DPS toxicologist, and Lockhart police officers that investigated the accident. Evidence showed that Quintanilla had a blood alcohol level of .13 at 4:55 a.m. at Brackenridge Hospital. A later blood test at 6:30 a.m. at the request of Lockhart Police officer Steven Vollmar showed Quintanilla”s blood alcohol level to be .11.
The case was tried before Judge Todd Blomerth in the 421st District Court of Caldwell County. Quintanilla was represented in court by Austin attorney John Butler. Criminal District Attorney Trey Hicks and First Assistant District Attorney Josh Erwin prosecuted the case. Since the jury returned a finding of a deadly weapon, Quintanilla will not be eligible for parole until at least one half of his sentence has been served.
(Courtesy of Trey Hicks)