Share and Follow
Inset left: Majesti Faith Lee (Fort Bend County Sheriff”s Office). Inset right: Diego Pena Jr. and Lizbeth Rodriguez Contreras (GoFundMe). Background: The Fort Bend County Jail in Richmond, Tex. (Google Maps).
A woman is facing serious charges after allegedly driving under the influence in the wrong direction on a major Texas highway, resulting in a tragic collision that claimed the lives of three family members.
Majesti Faith Lee, aged 27, is now charged with intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault due to the fatal accident.
This devastating incident took place in the early morning hours of Saturday.
Around 2 a.m., on the 11400 block of South Highway 99 near Houston, a family consisting of Lizbeth Rodriguez Contreras, 27, Diego Pena Jr., 26, their 5-year-old daughter Camila Pena, and a 3-year-old son were headed north. Concurrently, Lee was reportedly driving south.
However, rather than being on the correct side of the highway, Lee was allegedly “traveling southbound in the northbound lanes,” as detailed in a press release from the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, leading to the catastrophic collision.
Contreras and Camila were pronounced dead at the scene. Diego Pena and the 3-year-old boy were flown to a local hospital where the father was pronounced dead. As of Wednesday, the boy was hospitalized “in critical but stable condition.”
Lee was also flown away from the scene to a local hospital — “with non-life-threatening injuries.” Investigators say they “determined alcohol was a contributing factor in the crash.”
The defendant was arrested and jailed on a bond of $1,050,000.
“Our hearts are with the family as they endure an unimaginable loss,” Fort Bend County Sheriff Eric Fagan said. “This tragedy is a painful reminder of how quickly lives can be changed when impaired driving occurs, and why making responsible choices behind the wheel is so critical.”
A GoFundMe set up for the victims says their families have “suffered unimaginable loss.”
The family was leaving a holiday party “when a wrong-way driver” struck them “and caused the sudden and devastating loss of lives,” the fundraiser adds, noting that the surviving child has “a long road to recovery.”
South Highway 99 runs around Houston and is one of the most significant roads in and around the city.