A tragic start to the New Year unfolded on the eastbound lanes of IH-20 in Mesquite, as a late-night car crash on January 1 ended in the loss of four lives. According to a social media post from the Mesquite Police Department, a disabled vehicle on the shoulder of the highway became the site of a fatal collision when another car veered off the road and struck the vehicle and its occupants, who were tending to a flat tire at around 1:45 AM.
Due to a flat tire, those killed in the incident had been working on a vehicle that was immobilized, and struck by a motorist who, as reported, had drifted onto the shoulder. Tragically, Arturo Martinez Gonzalez, 47, Anthony Hernandez, 19, Mario Guajardo De La Paz, 19, and a 15-year-old male—all residents of Terrell, Texas—were confirmed as the deceased. Responding to the accident in the 17100 block of IH-20, authorities undertook an investigation which is still active.
The driver of the vehicle that caused the accident, Basilio Mares Ortiz, 35, was taken into custody. The Mesquite Police identified him as also being from Terrell, TX, and he now faces charges of Intoxication Manslaughter. The exact circumstances that led Ortiz to drift onto the shoulder remain part of the ongoing inquiry by the Mesquite Police Department Traffic Unit.
