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A Texas mother faces a prison sentence after allowing her intoxicated 14-year-old son to drive her car, an action that tragically resulted in the death of a bicyclist.
Erika Martinez-Ramirez was handed the maximum penalty of two years in prison following her conviction on April 7 for endangering a child. This information was confirmed by a statement from the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office.
“It is uncommon for parents to be prosecuted for their children’s actions, but the recklessness and habitual nature of this mother’s behavior justified both the prosecution and the harshest sentence,” noted Assistant District Attorneys Michaelina Yearty and Duncan Widmann in their joint statement. They also acknowledged the outstanding efforts of the Bellmead Police Department in building the case.
Erika Martinez-Ramirez’s Son Allegedly Struck and Killed Bicyclist
The incident, which led to the investigation, occurred at 1:30 a.m. on July 14, 2024, after police responded to a vehicular accident. Allegedly, Martinez-Ramirez’s son, who was just 14, collided with a bicyclist before crashing into a nearby residence.
Prosecutors stated, “The police determined the young driver was under the influence of alcohol.” They further revealed that the boy’s 10-year-old sister, who was also in the vehicle at the time, suffered minor injuries from the crash.
Although prosecutors did not identify the victim by name, Bellmead Police identified him in a 2024 statement as 67-year-old Dennis Welch.
During the investigation, detectives learned that Martinez-Ramirez had handed her son the keys that night and asked him to drive his sister to a nearby house to pick up some clothes.
It wasn’t the first time she’d been caught allowing her underage son to drive, either.
Bellmead Police stopped the teen on Dec. 12, 2023 for speeding and discovered other children in the car.
“Officers then contacted Martinez-Ramirez,” prosecutors said, “and issued her a citation for allowing her teenage son to drive.”
Just two weeks later, on Dec. 24, he was driving the car again when he struck another car and fled the scene.
According to prosecutors, “police contacted Martinez-Ramirez and repeated to her that allowing her son to drive was unacceptable.”
Prosecutors said they weren’t able to charge Martinez-Ramirez with manslaughter in Welch’s death because there was no evidence to show that she knew her son was intoxicated when he got behind the wheel that night.
Authorities said Texas law prohibited them from revealing any information about her teenage son’s fate, given his status as a minor.