EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Lupe Hernandez Lucero and Diana Garcia both lost their sons to drunk-driving-related crashes.
That tragedy has turned their lives upside down but despite the pain they relive every day, they are committed to remain vocal even at the expense of their sons’ cases.
“I might not get the justice I want regarding my son, but you know what? I also have other kids, grandkids, nephews, and loved ones,” said Garcia, mother of Isaac Garcia who was killed in a drunk-driving crash on March 2023 in Otero County, New Mexico.
“I know I’m not going to receive justice; I’m already expecting that,” said Hernandez, mother of Steven Hernandez who was killed in a car crash involving a drunk driver in far East El Paso in May 2023.
“I’m expecting the worst, but we have to leave it in God’s hands to determine that, but if our movement can help prevent another family going through this,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez, Garcia, and parents of other drunk-driving victims have joined to form the Sober Streets Movement.
They aim to raise awareness of the dangers of drunk driving and demand stricter state and local laws to address drunk-driving-related deaths, and call for stronger punishments for drunk drivers.
Hernandez and Garcia shared their frustration with the decision handed down in a recently closed case.
El Pasoan Mario Ernesto Martel, 33, was sentenced to five years in prison last week after pleading guilty to one count of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle as part of his plea deal for causing a crash that killed Mayvel Alexandra Morales, 33, in August 2021.
“I could only imagine what that family was feeling. Helpless. No justice. It was an insult to that family,” Hernandez said.
“They’re (children of the victim) going to relive the pain because their mom did not receive justice,” Garcia said.
“You didn’t just drive drunk. You took somebody else’s life. You killed somebody. You’re a murderer. And unfortunately the law gives them a slap on the wrist,” Garcia added.
Garcia and Hernandez called out El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks, for failing to deliver on his promises and questioning his efforts to give Martel and other drunk drivers stronger punishments.
Hicks did not respond to KTSM’s request for an interview, but he did take to Facebook to explain the intricacies and challenges of prosecuting intoxication manslaughter cases.
He explained that causing someone’s death as a result of driving intoxicated is treated differently from intentionally murdering someone. He said that a person convicted of intoxicated manslaughter could serve anywhere from two to 10 years in prison, or even two to 10 years of probation, compared to the maximum sentence of life in prison.
“These are the laws that a district attorney has to work with and cannot change just because we sympathize with the victim’s family or because we get really angry at drunks driving in our community,” Hicks’ Facebook post read.
He went on to explain that his office has to enter into plea bargains to “keep cases moving” as there are few enough felony courts to process thousands of cases, with many others already backed up. Without moving cases forward, he said, families could be waitting “for a decade” to go to trial.
His post highlighted that because local juries are prone to give offenders probation, they often offer plea recommendations of approximately 10 years in prison, despite their belief that “true justice” demands the maximum sentence under the law.
“We have already taken to trial several intoxicated manslaughter cases and look forward to more trials in the future. I assure that if our El Paso juries start showing the outrage at these cases that we feel and start sentencing people to long prison sentences, our plea recommendations will go up proportionately,” the post read.
Garcia and Hernandez are also calling on juries selected to intoxication manslaughter cases to be understanding of their perspective as well.
“To the people that get picked as a jury. Get in our shoes for once. Be understanding of the other side. You (jury) can (sympathize with the defendants) and say, ‘Oh, they’re going to get prison,’ but think also about the families who lost their loved ones,” Garcia said.
The Sober Streets Movement began a petition earlier this year, calling for the implementation of regular DWI checkpoints and daily Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission undercover visits to alcohol establishments.
The petition already has over 2,500 signatures.
“We want a change in our laws. Something needs to be done, too many lives are being impacted. To make that change we need everybody to step in so that we can (make it happen) together,” Hernandez said.
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