Granada – The State Patrol said today it has recommended charges of careless driving causing death against a 15-year-old who was driving a sport-utility vehicle when it collided with a train, killing six other people in the vehicle.
Christopher Cruz of Donna, Texas, could also face charges of driving without a valid license, driving without insurance and failing to yield, Sgt. Jeff Goodwin said.
The Prowers County district attorney’s office said it had not yet received the recommendation.
Cruz was critically injured in the April 13 crash near this small farming town about 180 miles southeast of Denver. He was taken to Denver Health Medical Center, but the hospital said today he had been released.
Goodwin said the patrol had given Cruz the citations in the hospital last week.
Goodwin said investigators concluded Cruz was distracted when the red Ford Explorer crossed a single set of tracks into the path of a BNSF Railway train.
Cruz’s mother, Cristela Rios, 36, of Donna was killed, along with two of her other children, Bud Cruz, 13, and Harley Rios, 14.
Also killed were Francisco Perez Jr., 36, of Donna; Melissa Resendez, 23, of Combes, Texas; and Ventura Becerra, 26, of Harlingen, Texas.
No one aboard the train was hurt.
