Driver in fatal Stockyards crash faces murder charge in woman’s death

Luis Young III, the burglary suspect who crashed into seven vehicles in the Fort Worth Stockyards on Sept. 6, killing Gaudencia Meza and injuring seven others, has been charged with murder, according to jail records.

The charge was added to the list of charges Young is facing, which also include burglary of a habitation, burglary of a building and theft of property valued between $2,500 and $30,000, on Tuesday. Young was being followed by a neighborhood patrol officer when he ran a red light and fled from police.

Young received the murder charge because the fatality happened during the alleged commission of another felony, said Samantha Jordan of the Tarrant County criminal district attorney’s office.

He’s being held on a combined $60,000 bond.

Police say Young was in a stolen pickup and ran a red light while being followed by a police car on North Main Street. He eventually pulled over. When he saw a uniformed police officer approaching him, he got “spooked” and hopped back into the truck, racing away southbound into the heart of the Stockyards at high speed, two witnesses said.

Young crashed into seven vehicles, injuring seven people including Tony Martinez, the principal of Northside High School, who said Tuesday that he was taken to a local hospital via ambulance and treated for wounds to his face and neck after the incident.

He missed work on Sept. 7 due to his injuries, he said.

He said that Meza, who was killed near the intersection of North Main Street and Exchange Avenue, was a fellow Fort Worth school district employee. She worked in the kitchen at Washington Heights Elementary, he said.

This story was originally published September 12, 2018 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Driver in fatal Stockyards crash faces murder charge in woman’s death."