The mother of a 32-year-old man killed in a February crash has filed a lawsuit against the man driving the vehicle he was riding in and his employers.
Maria Antonia Castillo Herrera is seeking unspecified damages from Jesse Vasquez, CWJ Forklift, Cody Wayne James and Teresa Jean James on behalf of the estate of her son, Felipe Oviedo Castillo.
According to the lawsuit filed in Ector County District Court, Cody and/or Teresa James continued to serve alcohol to Jesse Vasquez despite knowing he was intoxicated, failed to prevent him from leaving a work party despite knowing he was incapacitated and failed to provide another means for him to get home from the party and her son died as a result.
Vasquez was arrested in May on an intoxication manslaughter charge stemming from the crash that killed Castillo at Loop 338 and Eighth Street.
According to a Texas Department of Public Safety report, Vasquez was traveling 104-105 miles an hour just seconds before he rear-ended a tractor-trailer, causing his passenger, Castillo, to be thrown from his pickup truck and killed.
Blood tests showed Vasquez had a blood alcohol level of 0.189; the legal limit in Texas is 0.08.
The report indicates the Kenworth was stopped at a red light at the intersection when Vasquez struck it around 8:20 p.m. Feb. 8, pushing it 60 feet into the intersection. Vasquez’s Dodge Ram flipped onto its right side and hit a trailer being towed by a Freightliner. Castillo was thrown from the vehicle, hit a Ford Escape and died.
According to the report, the top half of Vasquez’s pickup was completely missing, having been ripped apart from the body of the truck.
Vasquez told troopers he didn’t remember being involved in a crash, the report stated.
The owners of CWJ Forklift Services told authorities the two men were employees and they’d been at a work party where tequila, whiskey and beer were served, the report stated. One of the owners told troopers she’d told the men not to leave because she didn’t think it was safe for them to drive, but she noticed them missing from the party around 7 p.m.
Vasquez was released from the Ector County jail May 4 after posting a $50,000 surety bond.
