NORTH MONTGOMERY COUNTY-One man is dead and another is jailed facing serious charges following an auto-pedestrian accident near Willis on Sunday, a short distance from where a Houston woman was killed less than two months ago after her car broke down.
Drivers called the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office shortly after midnight to report a Hispanic male walking on the right lane of Interstate 45 North near Shepard Hill Rd., according to Department of Public Safety officials.
Before deputies had time to respond to the location, additional calls reported a pedestrian was struck by a pickup north of Shepard Hill Rd.
Irvin Casillas was already dead when medics arrived. As of Sunday evening, DPS investigators were still trying to confirm his date of birth.
Investigators said a witness saw the 2002 Ford Supercab 4X4 pickup ahead of her swerve. As she passed she saw Casillas and stopped to try and help him, but it was too late.
The driver of the pickup, 21-year-old Cody Rene Gonzales of Huntsville, was not injured. DPS troopers administered a field sobriety test on the scene, then arrested Gonzales for intoxication manslaughter. His bond is set at $10,000.
Gonzales turned 21 in November. The 2006 Livingston High School graduate has only been old enough to legally purchase alcohol for four months.
Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Lanny Moriarty conducted an inquest and had the body transported to the Southeast Texas Forensic Center in Conroe for autopsy.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is continuing their investigation.
On the night of January 17, a Houston woman was struck and killed on Interstate 45 North at the Shepard Hill exit after her car broke down and she walked around to the passenger side to remove an infant from the backseat.
No charges were filed in that crash.
