Published: September 09, 2009 06:14 pm      

Double fatality in Martindale

Martindale — A 22-year-old Lockhart woman and her 12-year-old sister were killed in a grisly crash in Martindale on Labor Day that police say was caused by a drunk driver. Three other people were injured.

Martindale Chief of Police Jeff Caldwell said Anna Tovar and her little sister Carla Vasquez were pronounced dead at the scene on Hwy. 80 betwen Quail Run Road and Hwy. 142 — a straight section of roadway where the posted speed limit is 55 mph.

Jailed on two counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault is 37-year-old Ebony Runnels of Converse.

Caldwell said Tovar was driving a 2002 Ford Mustang southbound on 80 around 9:24 p.m. Monday night. There was a second vehicle headed the same way in the other lane when Runnels approached them from the rear in a 2001 Chrysler 300 "at a high rate of speed."

He said the Chrysler swerved around one of the cars and was trying to pass the second when it partially left the roadway. After that, he said Runnels cut back too sharply, smashed into Tovar's car and pushed it into oncoming traffic.

It was then hit by a 2004 F-350 pickup driven by 36-year-old Jesus Chavez of Kyle.

Caldwell said Chavez had tried to avoid the impact but that Tovar's car might have already been undriveable. "It's all very preliminary, but it looks like the damage to her car was enough that it messed up one of the front wheels. That makes it pretty tough to steer."

Chavez' wife Juanita and their two children, one nine and one eight, were taken to Central Texas Medical Center where they were treated and released.

Runnels was not injured.

The force of the impact pinned both Tovar and Vasquez in the vehicle. Their bodies were extricated by the South Hays County Fire Department.

Caldwell said the double fatality is believed to be the first traffic death in Martindale in 14 years. It remains under investigation.