A 22-year-old illegal alien from Mexico was sentenced Tuesday to as many as 40 years in prison for a drunken, high-speed crash that killed a retired nurse and severely injured two of her relatives.
Daniel Rascon-Sainz pleaded guilty in district court to intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault stemming from the December 8, 2024, head-on wreck on FM 730 between Weatherford and Azle, according to the Parker County District Attorney’s Office, Fox 4 KDFW reported.
District Judge Graham Quisenberry imposed the maximum penalty on each count: 20 years for intoxication manslaughter and 10 years for each intoxication assault charge. The judge ordered the assault sentences to run consecutively after the manslaughter term.
The collision killed Cora Estep, 71, of Azle, and critically injured her sister, Wanda King, and niece, Ryan Jones.
Prosecutors said Rascon-Sainz was traveling 90 mph in the wrong direction when the crash occurred. A blood draw after his arrest showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.218 — nearly triple Texas’ legal limit of 0.08 — along with signs of recent cocaine use.
“When troopers first encountered the defendant after the wreck, they noticed that he had a little white powder under his nose,” Parker County District Attorney Jeff Swain said in a statement, per Fox 4. “Not only was Mr. Rascon-Sainz drunk at the time of the collision, he was high on cocaine… To add insult to injury, he should not have been in our country in the first place.”
Swain said an affirmative deadly weapon finding entered in the case requires Rascon-Sainz to serve at least half of his total sentence before he becomes eligible for parole consideration. He will be deported to Mexico after completing his prison term.
Victim Impact
Estep worked for decades as a nurse before retiring. Her brother, Richard Smith, addressed Rascon-Sainz directly during a victim impact statement following the sentencing.
“As I walked into her room, I saw my beautiful sister lying lifeless,” Smith said, Fox 4 reported. “I saw her injuries and a part of me died there. Then it hit me, I would never be able to speak with Cora ever again… As you serve your sentence in jail, I want you to think about the life you have taken and the suffering and pain you caused everyone.”
Prosecutors credited state troopers and emergency medical crews for their response, noting that staff at Texas Health Hospital in Fort Worth saved Jones’ life after she lost about half of her body’s blood volume from her injuries.
