Family heartbroken after jury hands down probation for driver in fatal wreck
Though no amount of prison time would ever be enough to make up for the pain he'd caused, the family of 18-year-old Jonathan Pesqueda hoped that a prison sentence for the man who caused a fatal drunken driving crash five years ago would at least deter other people from getting behind the wheel after drinking.
Instead, whatever hope they held on to for a potent sentence gave way to heartbreak when jurors decided to place on probation 31-year-old Alexander May, the man who ultimately admitted to driving his truck while blackout drunk and ending up on the wrong way on South Loop 289 before crashing head-on into Pesqueda's vehicle.
Pesqueda was taken to University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
The jury deliberated for about two hours before returning to the 140th District Court with a suspended 10-year prison sentence. District Judge Douglas Freitag ordered May to be on community supervision for 10 years.
This means if May successfully completes his supervision in 10 years he will have served his sentence. However, he faces up to 10 years in prison if the court revokes his probation.
The law also allows May to seek the early termination of his probation after serving about 1/3 of it.
"This is a slap in the face," said Katherine Tarango on Feb. 6 as she stood on the steps of the Lubbock County Courthouse just moments after May's punishment was announced. "Probation is a slap in the face."
Tarango, Pesqueda's aunt and godmother, said her family was hurt and worried that a jury's decision to place the drunken driver that killed him would do nothing to deter other people from drinking and getting behind the wheel.
"If it was someone that they loved, I don't think they would want probation for someone that harmed somebody in their family," she said. "Probation should not have been given an option at all."
Tarango stood outside the courthouse with other family members including her nephew's girlfriend and one of his high school friends.
Pesqueda's parents, who watched every day of the trial, were not there.
"My brother and his wife, are probably at the cemetery right now letting Jonathan know what happened," Trango said.
Jurors convicted May of manslaughter three days before finding he acted recklessly when he killed Pesqueda on Aug. 3, 2017 while driving his Toyota Tacoma at least 89 mph the wrong way on South Loop 289 while under the influence of alcohol.
However, since he had no prior convictions that resulted in a prison sentence, jurors could also recommend probation as a punishment.
As part of the condition of May's probation, Freitag also ordered the defendant to serve six months of shock jail time, the maximum the law allowed. However, the judge structured May's jail time in a way that hasn't been seen in Lubbock before.
He ordered May to serve the first 150 days staring Feb. 7 at the Lubbock County Detention Center. Then, he told May, who lives in Granbury, that he will return to Lubbock to serve the remaining 30 days in 72-hour increments every year for 10 years on the anniversary of the crash. The first three-day stint starts this year, a month after May finishes the 150 days.
"As a reminder," Freitag told him.
May's attorney, Chuck Lanehart, said after the trial that his client thanked the jury for the fair sentence.
"Our client wants to apologize again to the Pesqueda family," he said. "And he looks forward to completing his sentence as the jury and judge have decreed. And I promise you, Alex May will never ever ever drink and drive again."
During their closing arguments, prosecutors asked jurors to give May a double-digit prison sentence, saying probation wasn't an appropriate sentence for the defendant's choices the night of the fatal crash.
Mandi Say, the first assistant district attorney, told jurors Pesqueda was a member of their community minding his own business that night just trying to go home when May collided into him head-on because he was drunk and somehow ended up driving the wrong way on the loop.
"What mercy did this defendant show to Jonathan Pesqueda?" she said. "What responsibility had he shown for his actions."
Prosecutor Chris Schulte told jurors they needed to hand down a sentence that sent a message that drinking and driving would not be tolerated in their community, especially when it results in a death.
"Make the next person think twice," he said.
However, Lanehart argued prosecutors failed to show his client, who had no criminal history before the crash, presented a danger to the community. A substance abuse counselor who evaluated May told jurors that, based on the defendant's self-admissions, he found May did not have a substance abuse problem.
Lanehart told jurors his client, who had been out on bond the last five years with no violations, was remorseful and regretted his actions that night and will likely never drink alcohol again.
May did not testify in the guilt-innocence phase of his trial during which prosecutors worked to prove he was driving under the influence of alcohol when he drove his pickup truck that night.
However, in the punishment phase of his trial, after jurors found he was guilty of manslaughter, May admitted he was blackout drunk the night of the crash.
He sobbed as he told jurors about the guilt and shame he feels thinking about his role in Pesquda's death.
"I just feel so broken cause I killed someone and I don't even remember it," he said.
He told jurors that after his arrest and indictment he'd been unable to find a job in his field.
He spent most of his time volunteering for charities and staying home.
"All I can do is try to put more good back on the world - more than I took out of it," he said.
Lanehart told jurors that it was his decision to go through the guilt-innocence phase of the trial, saying he didn't feel it was appropriate for his client to plead guilty if he couldn't remember the crash.
He also took the blame for telling May not to reach out to the Pesqueda family while the case was pending, saying his client could be accused of witness tampering.
Lanehart argued that in cases of manslaughter, prison sentences are an unlikely deterrent since those cases involve the unintentional killing of people.
"As long as there is alcohol and as long as there are automobiles, people will make mistakes and people will get hurt," he told jurors. "You have to take those (cases) on their own merits. Those who are reckless don't pay to much attention to the news."
Schulte said after the trial that while he disagreed with the jury's decision, he respected it.
He said he's not seen shock jail time arranged the way Freitag did, but said it was appropriate.
"It's unusual but I thought it was very fitting in this case," he said.
Pesqueda's parents, who were at the trial every day, left the courthouse disappointed and upset. Joe Pesqueda could be heard saying the jury didn't care about his son.
A family friend read a victim impact statement Pesqueda wrote to May. He told May that he rushed to the scene of the crash after seeing on social media posts about the crash that included an image of a mangled vehicle that resembled his son's 1985 Monte Carlo.
When he arrived at the scene, his worst fear was confirmed.
"I frantically started screaming at the police that my son was involved in the crash," he wrote. "I was instructed to go back home with no confirmation of my desperate pleadings."
He said he went home to tell his wife what he saw.
Pesqueda's family wept as video from a police officer body camera showed Jonathan Peqeuda lying unconscious and unresponsive in his mangled vehicle as paramedics tended to him. Meanwhile, firefighters spent nearly a half-hour cutting through the top pillars of Pesqueda's vehicle to remove the roof and rescue him from the wreckage.
Once freed, Pesqueda was taken to UMC where his eldest brother worked.
Joe Pesqueda said his eldest son broke the news to them that Jonathan was dead.
"From that second on, our lives have never been the same," he said.
Joe Pesqueda described Jonathan as an amazing son who was the light of their lives.
"An an inspirational 18-year-old, with his whole life ahead of him, he had a saying, 'Live you. Live Life. Be Happy,' But our son did not get to live out those words."
Pesqueda told May that he put his family through five years of pain.
"You took away part of our family," he said. "You took away part of who we used to be."
He told May he hoped to be constantly reminded of the pain he's caused.
"May you carry it with you until the very last day of your life," he said.
Shannell Alvarez, Pesqueda's girlfriend, told May in her victim impact statement that she didn't believe his tears were sincere. She said the pain he's caused her and Pesqueda's family was indescribable.
"How could you ... be so careless with Jonathan's life?" she said.
Samantha Cardenas, who graduated high school with Jonathan Pesqueda, said she was also a victim of a drunken driver, about four months after his fatal wreck.
"I almost lost my life," she said.
She described Pesqueda as compassionate, charming and passionate about school.
"He just wanted to go home (the night of the crash)," she said. "Jonathan just wanted to go home. He didn't get to say goodbye to his family."
Cardenas fears the jury's decision will do nothing to curb the issue of drunken driving in Lubbock.
"Every day approximately 32 people die in the united states from a drunk driving wreck," Cardenas said. "How many people have to die until you understand that drinking and driving is not OK. It's a choice that you make. Don't choose to do that to someone's family."
According to the latest available statistics from the Lubbock police department, DWI arrests increased from 355 to 571 from 2020 to 2021.
Statewide, more than 25,260 drunk-driving crashes were reported in 2021 with 1,029 fatalities in Texas alone, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
Today, in anticipation of Super Bowl LVII, DPS Troopers will increase patrols throughout the day as part of the nationwide Crash Awareness and Reduction Effort initiative. Troopers will be looking for drivers who violate the law, including those who are speeding, driving under the influence and people who are not wearing their seat belts.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Jury gives probation in 2017 fatal drunken driving crash
