A man police said was driving drunk rammed into a shopping cart in the parking lot of a dollar store, killing a baby.
David Fuentes, 25, made a wide turn into the lot at a high rate of speed and hit the cart head-on, San Antonio Police Department Sgt. Ralph Salazar told KSAT. Police told the San Antonio Express-News that the baby was “ejected from the cart.”
The 1-year-old baby, identified as Corinna Tovar, was pronounced dead at the hospital. Corinna’s mother was rushed to the hospital along with another woman.
The baby was hit as the cart sat behind her mother’s car. The mother was loading groceries into the vehicle. The other victim was also loading groceries into her car.
The condition of the baby’s mother wasn’t known but the other woman, believed to be in her 60s, was in critical condition after emergency surgery.
Police told KSAT that the incident was captured on surveillance cameras at the Dollar General.
Fuentes was arrested and is facing intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault.
JUST IN: A baby was killed Monday afternoon after a suspected drunken driver hit a shopping cart at a Dollar General store parking lot. The baby’s mother and another woman were also injured, according to San Antonio police. https://t.co/u29UcQt8Tn
— KSAT 12 (@ksatnews) February 26, 2019
Baby killed, mother injured in parking lot of South Side Dollar General https://t.co/CHfzkdZjoY pic.twitter.com/ddKLN5XRQ9
— KABB FOX 29 (@KABBFOX29) February 26, 2019
JUST IN: Arrest photo of 25 yr old David Fuentes charged w/Intoxication Manslaughter & Assault, for death of 1 yr old Corinna Tovar. He’s accused of slamming his truck into shopping cart Corinna was in, in parking lot of a Dollar General yesterday while her mom loaded groceries. pic.twitter.com/eq8k64SMiD
— Melissa Vega (@melissamvega) February 26, 2019
Drunk Driving
Almost 30 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes every day, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The number of deaths has fallen by a third in the last three decades; however, drunk-driving crashes still claim more than 10,000 lives per year, with 10,874 recorded in 2017, or 29 percent of all motor vehicle traffic fatalities. Alcohol severely affects drivers, the administration noted.
“Alcohol is a substance that reduces the function of the brain, impairing thinking, reasoning, and muscle coordination. All these abilities are essential to operating a vehicle safely,” it stated.
Blood Alcohol Concentration, or BAC, is a way to measure how much someone drank, and is measured by the weight of the alcohol in a certain volume of blood. At .15, the typical effects on driving include “Substantial impairment in vehicle control, attention to driving task, and in necessary visual and auditory information processing,” according to the administration. Even small amounts of alcohol can affect driving ability.
In 2017, there were 1,837 people killed in alcohol-related crashes where drivers had lower alcohol levels than the legal limit. “Driving after drinking is deadly. Yet it still continues to happen across the United States. If you drive while impaired, you could get arrested, or worse—be involved in a traffic crash that causes serious injury or death,” the administration added.
People who plan to drink should designate a sober driver ahead of time or call a taxi, ride-sharing service, or friend.
