Man, woman and girl killed in Haltom City wrong-way crash identified; driver arrested
Three people were killed when a wrong-way driver crashed into another car in Haltom City on Sunday evening, police said in a news release.
At about 8:35 p.m., a blue Chevrolet pickup truck was driving westbound on the eastbound side of Interstate Loop 820 near U.S. Route 377, police said.
The truck crashed into a gray BMW, which was on fire when officers arrived at the crash.
A girl, man and woman were inside the BMW, police said. They all died at the scene.
One victim was Favian Chavez Garcia, 35, of Dallas, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office website on Monday.
Mesquite Independent School District officials identified the girl who died as 9-year-old Sofia Garcia, a fourth-grader at Lawrence Elementary School. Officials said Mayra Pallares, her mother, was a bilingual clerical aide at Cannaday Elementary in Mesquite ISD and also died in the crash.
The driver of the truck, 45-year-old Sione Pitone Nusi, was flown to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. Police said they believed alcohol was a factor in the crash.
Nusi, who is from Irving, faces three counts of Intoxication manslaughter. He was seen by a magistrate on Monday, and his bond was set at $100,000 for each count. He remains in custody in the ICU of a local hospital, police said in a press release.
Traffic investigators, crime scene officers and detectives were called to the scene to investigate the crash as intoxication manslaughter, police said.
This story was originally published August 30, 2020 at 11:24 PM.
