Lubbock man found guilty of manslaughter in 2020 street racing wreck

A 22-year-old man faces probation or two to 20 years in prison after a Lubbock County jury found him guilty on Thursday of recklessly causing a February 2020 crash in South Lubbock that killed a 69-year-old man.

Jurors deliberated for about an hour and 45 minutes before returning to the 140th District Court with their verdict finding Xavier Montalvo guilty of manslaughter in the Feb. 24, 2020, death of Howard Wright in the 7500 block of Slide Road.

They also found that Montalvo used his vehicle, a Dodge Charger, as a deadly weapon.

The verdict came after jurors heard two days of testimony from witnesses who shared the road with Montalvo right before the crash and Lubbock police crash investigators, who gathered evidence from the scene and Montalvo's vehicle.

At the start of the trial, Montalvo pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, a second-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.

However, the court's instruction issued to jurors before attorneys made their closing arguments gave jurors the option of finding Montalvo guilty of criminally negligent homicide, a state jail felony that carries a punishment of six months to two years in a state jail.

Jurors were also instructed to acquit Montalvo if they believed that there was a concurrent, more sufficient, cause other than Montalvo's actions for the deadly wreck.

Prosecutors argued that Montalvo acted recklessly when he decided to speed southbound on Slide Road, weaving in and out of traffic before the crash.

Investigators said they believe Montalvo drove 94 mph — more than twice the posted speed limit — about five seconds before the crash.

Motorists recalled the driver of a gray Dodge Charger, later identified as Montalvo, racing two Chevrolet Camaros southbound on Slide Road starting from a red light at the 69th Street intersection.

One witness told jurors the driver of the Charger wove through traffic after speeding away once the light turned green.

Another driver told jurors the Charger drove around her very fast and she saw it plow into Wright's Nissan Murano.

Pictures of Wright's crushed SUV were projected onto a screen in the courtroom for jurors to see. Wright's family members wept as images of the vehicle were put on display.

A deputy medical examiner from Tarrant County told jurors an autopsy revealed at least five injuries on Wright that alone would have caused his death.

Security cameras from a bank caught the collision. Video from the cameras was also played to jurors and showed that Wright was turning left on 75th Street to go northbound on Slide Road.

A minivan could be seen driving ahead of Wright and getting into the center turning lane. It did not appear that Wright came to a full stop at the stop sign before following the minivan.

Meanwhile, the gray Charger can be seen overtaking a white SUV before merging into the middle lane and crashing into Wright.

Defense attorney Chris Wanner told jurors in his closing argument that crash data police extracted from his client's vehicle suggested that Montalvo, who did not testify, maneuvered his car to avoid the minivan, but he didn't anticipate Wright making the rolling stop.

Wanner told jurors that had Wright come to a complete stop, even for a half second, he would have seen his client's muscle car and waited before making his turn.

"But for Mr. Wright's actions, this wreck would have never happened," he said.

Lubbock police Sgt. Tim Seeley told jurors he believed that Wright would have survived the crash if Montalvo had kept to the 45 mph speed limit.

Prosecutor Jessica Gorman described Montalvo's actions that day as "stupid and careless." It was also criminal, she said.

"You don't get a pass because you were just acting stupid," she said.

Gorman said the evidence proved that Montalvo acted recklessly by failing to maintain his speed, failing to maintain a single lane, speeding or racing.

Prosecutor Cassie Nesbitt said that the evidence showed that Montalvo's actions alone led to Wright's death.

"Because (Montalvo) is driving 94 mph, he is weaving in and out of traffic," she said. "Mr. Wright failing to yield (right of way) is not sufficient [to cause the deadly crash]. But for this defendant's actions he would not be dead."

Prosecutors said the evidence showed Montalvo was racing two other Chevrolet Camaros that were seen on the video. Investigators discovered that Montalvo and the two other drivers, Anthony Martin and Luis Salinas, were members of a car club called Muscle Mayhem. Martin and Salinas are also facing felony charges in connection with the fatal crash.

Nesbitt recalled to jurors the club's motto: "Where there's muscle, there's mayhem."

"And this is the mayhem that Xavier Montalvo caused on Feb. 24, 2020, when he recklessly took the life of Howard Wright because of his actions," she said as she held up a picture of Wright's wrecked vehicle.

Soon after the verdict was read, the trial entered the punishment phase with Wanner telling jurors he plans to show why his client should be placed on probation.

Nesbitt told jurors that probation was inappropriate because Montalvo's actions resulted in Wright's death.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock man found guilty of manslaughter in 2020 street racing wreck