Driver: Faulty tire caused fatal wreck

A driver whose 10-year-old child died Saturday in a wreck told Harris County authorities that he drank two beers and that a faulty tire led to his vehicle careening into a ditch, according to prosecutors.

Deputies alleged that Emanuel Camacho-Patino, 34, had glassy, bloodshot eyes, smelled of alcohol and that he failed some aspects, but not all, of a roadside sobriety test after his vehicle crashed around 9 p.m. on FM 2100, near FM 1960 in the Huffman area, where he lives. He told authorities that he drank two Modelo beers that night and that he was on his way home from visiting a friend, a prosecutor said Tuesday in court.

The deputies dispatched to the crash found the driver’s son, also named Emanuel Camacho, in the passenger seat. He died of compressional and positional asphyxia, according to medical examiner records.

Officials also found evidence that Camacho-Patino’s tire blew out, authorities said.

After hearing a summary of the allegations against Camacho-Patino that led to his felony murder charge, Judge Melissa Morris in the 263rd District Court scrutinized the lack of a breathalyzer test and the status of toxicology evidence that could show how much alcohol was in Camacho-Patino’s blood that night.

The test is tied up in delays, the prosecutor said.

“It could take months,” Assistant District Attorney Erandi Marquez said in court.

Marquez said Camacho-Patino did not undergo a breathalyzer test after the crash.

The felony murder charge carries the same punishment range as a murder charge, based on an intentional act, if convicted. Prosecutors identified driving while intoxicated with a child in the vehicle as an underlying felony for the charge.

The court appointed defense attorney for Camacho-Patino reminded the judge during arguments over bail that authorities found evidence that a tire on his vehicle ruptured at the time of the crash.

“This could all be an accident,” lawyer Patty Segura said in court.

Segura appeared visibly shocked in court, while appearing by Zoom, when she realized that Camacho-Patino’s bail had been set by a magistrate at $1 million. She asked the judge to lower Camacho-Patino’s bail to $5,000, while the prosecutor requested that his bail remain as is.

Morris deemed the $1 million amount oppressive and lowered it to $100,000, citing Camacho-Patino’s criminal history and his ties to the community in making that decision. She ordered that Camacho-Patino not drive or be around his four surviving children without his wife or another adult if he makes bond.

Segura said he believes the original bail amount stemmed from magistrates feeling pressured by blowback over past bail decisions. A public defender had warned the magistrate, Carol Carrier, during the probable cause hearing on Sunday that the allegations against Camacho-Patino would be “a very difficult case for the state to prove.” Camacho-Patino is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 25. Segura hopes the toxicology reports are finalized by then.

The defense attorney said Camacho-Patino has lived in the Houston area for at least 17 years. He has been employed as a machine operator for eight years.

“He is a hardworking man supporting his wife and children,” Segura said.