HOUSTON (AP) — A suspected drunken driver has pleaded guilty to a murder charge for the death of a high school student two years ago hit by his pickup truck at a Houston intersection as she was returning with her date from her prom and he was fleeing from police.
Harris County prosecutors say the blood alcohol level for Edin Palacios was nearly twice the legal limit when 18-year-old Jocelynn Valero was killed. She died at the scene. Valero’s date was injured and survived. Palacios had minor injuries.
Houston television station KTRK reports the 25-year-old Palacios, jailed without bond, faces a sentencing hearing in court Thursday.
Court records show in 2013 he pleaded guilty to two counts of illegally entering the U.S., served 60 days in jail and was deported.