Mother Permits Intoxicated 14-Year-Old to Drive, Resulting in Fatal Collision with 67-Year-Old Cyclist

Erika Martinez-Ramirez (McLennan County District Attorney).

Erika Martinez-Ramirez has been sentenced to two years behind bars following her conviction for child endangerment, as reported by the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office. The tragic event unfolded on July 14, 2024, in Bellmead, near Waco. At around 1:30 a.m., Martinez-Ramirez entrusted her car keys to her son, instructing him to drive his 10-year-old sister to a nearby location to collect some clothing.

While driving, the teenager collided with a bicyclist, identified by KWTX, a local CBS affiliate, as Dennis Welch. The boy subsequently crashed into a house, resulting in Welch’s death at the scene. Fortunately, the 10-year-old girl sustained only minor injuries.

Prosecutors revealed this was not the first incident involving the boy driving illegally. On December 12, 2023, he was previously stopped by law enforcement for driving without a license, along with other children in his mother’s car. Martinez-Ramirez had been cited for allowing her son to drive at that time as well.

According to prosecutors, it wasn’t the first time the 14-year-old — who was too young to have a license — was busted for driving. The first occurred on Dec. 12, 2023, when an officer stopped the boy, who was driving with several other kids in his mom’s car. Officers cited Martinez-Ramirez for allowing her son to drive.

Two weeks later, the boy was once again behind the wheel when he struck another car and fled the scene. Cops contacted Martinez-Ramirez and “repeated to her that allowing her son to drive was unacceptable,” prosecutors said.

Authorities declined to provide details about the 14-year-old’s prosecution because of his age. Prosecutors said they didn’t charge Martinez-Ramirez with manslaughter because they didn’t have evidence that showed she knew her son was intoxicated at the time of the crash. She was originally facing a criminally negligent homicide charge but they opted to prosecute her on the endangering a child count because both charges carry the same punishment and the endangering charge is easier to prove, the district attorney said.

The case was prosecuted by assistant district attorneys Michaelina Yearty and Duncan Widmann.

“Parents are rarely prosecuted for crimes committed by their children, but this mother’s actions were so irresponsible and so frequent that both prosecution and a maximum sentence were warranted,” they said in a statement.