A migrant truck driver who was involved in a massive Texas highway disaster that killed five people, including a young toddler and a baby, has had his $1.2 million bond reduced to just $7,000.
Freight Waves, a trucking industry publication, reported on the horrific March 13 incident, in which 37-year-old Solomun Weldekeal-Araya was initially charged with five counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault after the 18-wheeler he was driving on Interstate 35 collided with 16 other vehicles.
Five people were pronounced dead at the site, including a couple and their two children, while 11 others were injured.
Independent journalist Sarah Fields identified the murdered family of four as Natalia Perez, Sergio López, their daughter Lylah, and their infant son Diego:
While authorities initially suspected Weldekeal-Araya of being intoxicated after he allegedly failed a field sobriety test, further testing found that the Dallas-based trucker had no drugs or alcohol in his system.
However, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that Weldekeal-Araya failed to slow for traffic in a temporary work zone for interstate construction.
“The truck that initiated the crash sequence was registered to a for-hire carrier, ZBN Transport LLC, out of Dallas, Texas,” NTSB investigator Kenny Bragg told reporters at a press conference. “In the coming days, the team will continue to document this temporary work zone, conduct a detailed mechanical inspection of the striking truck and collect further information from witnesses. We will also be looking into the truck driver’s employment history as a commercial driver, his entire driving history to include crash history and traffic violations, as well as his medical history for factors that may have influenced his driving.”
Democrat Judge Tamara Needles reduced the trucker’s bond to $7,000 from over $1 million after his counsel submitted a request demanding his client’s immediate release or a bond reduction to $7 — one dollar per charge, according to CBS Austin.
Prosecutors are now claiming that the drunkenness accusations come from Weldekeal-Araya’s reported sleeplessness and maybe pharmaceuticals.
Fields also discovered that the man had “previously received a violation for going 63 in a 30 mph zone” and is an asylum seeker on a work visa who “can barely speak English.”
According to an affidavit acquired by Fox 7, Weldekeal-Araya mostly spoke Tigrinya, an East African language prevalent in Eritrea and Ethiopia.
A court docket indicated that Weldekeal-Araya was scheduled to appear in court just one week after the pileup for that speeding violation:
Fields stated that the migrant had just had his license for four months when the accident occurred and that he has worked for shadowy trucking LLCs that are currently being investigated by the Department of Transportation (DOT):
According to KVUE, Weldekeal-Araya’s bond deal now requires him to refrain from driving commercial vehicles, relinquish his travel documents, wear a location-tracking device for 90 days, submit to random urine tests, and report to pretrial services.
