No bail in fatal prom crash case
Alleged drunken driver could face deportation
A man accused of killing a teenager and seriously injuring her prom date as he drunkenly fled police over the weekend will remain in the Harris County Jail without bail, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Edin Palacios, 26, a native of Guatemala, could face deportation, officials said.
Palacios appeared in court Tuesday on a charge of felony murder and evading arrest, accused of ignoring a police officer trying to pull him over on suspicion of drunken driving and running a red light, which caused the fatal crash.
Visiting Judge Frank Price said the court will consider setting bail in the future, but prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that Palacios would likely be held in federal custody if he were able to bail himself out of the county jail.
An immigration hold has been placed on him by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Price appointed defense attorney Emily Detoto, who said she is investigating the allegations.
“He’s extremely scared and still exhibiting signs of his injuries,” she said. “And it doesn’t really matter what the bail is; I don’t think he could make it.”
Prosecutor Alison Baimbridge said Palacios was driving erratically and hitting curbs as he drove through northwest Houston about 1 a.m. Saturday. A Houston police officer tried to pull him over, but Palacios fled and went through the red light, ramming his pickup into a car carrying the two teenagers returning home from IHOP, where they had gone to eat after the prom.
“He totally ignored the lights and sirens,” Baimbridge said, describing the moments before the bloody crash on the North Freeway service road near Tidwell. “Everybody was injured.”
The wreck killed 18-year-old Jocelynn Valero, a passenger in a Dodge Charger struck by Palacios’ Ford F-150. Valero’s friend, who was driving the Dodge, survived, but he remains in the hospital with a broken pelvis, a lacerated liver and other injuries, Baimbridge said.
Palacios was also hospitalized. He told investigators he had one Miller Lite beer and was scared when he fled police, according to court records.