Father Charged With Murder in Crash That Killed 10-Year-Old Son: Sheriff

A father has been charged with the felony murder of his 10-year-old son after crashing the pickup truck they were traveling in while intoxicated, a local sheriff in Texas has said.

The boy was in the passenger seat when his father, identified as Emanuel Camacho-Patino, lost control of the vehicle after the rear left tire tread cap separated, the Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) confirmed to Newsweek in an email on Tuesday.

This resulted in a blowout that caused the truck to rotate clockwise before entering a grassy ditch and rolling over, the sheriff's office said.

The child was found by deputies partially ejected from the white 2002 GMC Sierra "with no signs of life" and was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators say they believe the 10-year-old was not wearing a seatbelt and suspect he was thrown from the vehicle as it rolled.

The father did not suffer any major injuries from the wreck, HCSO Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.

Camacho-Patino was taken into custody at the scene after showing signs of being intoxicated, Gonzalez said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, who added that the fatal crash was avoidable.

"Driving after drinking is deadly...these things are very avoidable," Gonzalez wrote in another post on Sunday morning. "Every child deserves a designated driver."

It was unclear at the time of publication if Camacho-Patino had retained an attorney that could speak on his behalf.

HCSO did not provide additional information about Camacho-Patino as of Tuesday night.

The fatal wreck happened along Farm to Market (FM) 2100 at East FM-1960 in Huffman, Texas, at roughly 9 p.m. Saturday, according to the sheriff's office.

HCSO Vehicular Crimes Division is investigating the crash.

While Camacho-Patino's bond was initially set at $1 million in the felony murder case, the judge lowered it to $100,000 after questioning the evidence presented during a court appearance on Tuesday morning, local outlet KHOU11 reported.

The judge also said she was lowering his bond based on his lack of criminal history and his ties to the community, the outlet reports.

Camacho-Patino has been living in the Houston area for more than 17 years and works as a machine operator. He's married and had five children until the death of his 10-year-old son, later identified as Manuel Camacho Nolasco, according to local media.

Despite the judge lowering his bail, prosecutors said the evidence shows the felony murder charge is warranted.

"When someone is committing a felony and then causes a death of someone else, you can charge that as felony murder, and that's exactly what we did here," Harris County Assistant District Attorney Erandy Marquez told KHOU11.

Update 09/06/23, 10:10 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with information from HCSO.