06 Oct Fatal DUI Finally Going to Trial

A man accused of killing two people in a 2022 drunk-driving crash near the Webb-Zapata county line is heading to trial, with jury selection scheduled for November following years of pretrial delays.

Matias Cerda faces two counts of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle, second-degree felonies punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors are also seeking a deadly weapon finding (for his vehicle) and have filed notice of their intent to stack his sentences if convicted.

According to a Texas Department of Public Safety arrest affidavit, Cerda was driving a silver Volkswagen Beetle on the wrong side of U.S. 83 South on Feb. 26, 2022, when he struck a black Ford Explorer head-on. The crash killed two occupants—Erick Alberto Moreno Rodriguez, 46, and Brayan Morales Alvarez, 25, both of Matamoros, Mexico—and injured a third passenger.

Deputies reported finding alcohol inside Cerda’s vehicle: unopened green apple Smirnoff, a broken Smirnoff bottle, and a small bottle of Tequila Rose were all found. A blood test registered Cerda’s blood alcohol concentration at 0.084, above the state’s 0.08 legal limit.

Cerda was served with arrest warrants in April 2022 and posted a $90,000 total bond, but the case moved slowly through the legal system. He wasn’t indicted or formally charged until July 2024. Over the following two years, proceedings were repeatedly delayed as the defense requested extra time for discovery, toxicology reviews, expert witness appointments, and a motion to suppress the blood-test evidence.

During a final pretrial hearing on Sept. 29, 406th District Court Judge Oscar Hale reset the proceeding for Oct. 20 after neither Cerda nor his defense attorney appeared in court.

Age 22 at the time of the incident, his age, date and time of the crash (3am) falls exactly is the exact scenario the state claims is most likely to lead to a traffic fatality: being a male between the ages of 19-35 driving between 2-3am on a Saturday or Sunday. As for Cerda, he’ll face up to 40 years in prison (if the judge orders his sentences to be served consecutively), along with fines of up to $10,000 per count and mandatory parole restrictions for the vehicle deadly weapon finding. 

The selection for the jury that will decide Cerda’s fate is set for Nov. 2 at 8 a.m.