Pharr man sentenced to 7 years in prison after fatal accident while driving while under the influence of alcohol

A A Pharr man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for a 2021 car crash that left one man dead.

According to court records, Christian Antonio Salazar, 32, pleaded guilty to manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol with a vehicle, a second-degree felony. State District Judge Bobby Flores sentenced him to seven years in prison on Monday.

He was also charged with driving while intoxicated with a vehicle causing serious bodily injury (third-degree felony) and driving under the influence (third-degree felony). Those charges were dropped, according to court records.

Salazar was accused of a fatal accident early in the morning on August 19, 2021, in which his friend Hugo Carlos Gonzalez died.

An affidavit stated that a police officer arrived at the scene of the crash in the 900 block of East Nolana at about 2:12 a.m. and found a blue Hyundai Elantra with significant front-end damage in the eastbound lane heading west and a blue GMC Terrain SUV in a grassy area at the side of the road.

The driver of the GMC Terrain was also injured in the accident, but his injuries were not life-threatening.

According to records, the incident was Salazar's third alcohol-related arrest in less than five years, including a DUI arrest on Jan. 20, 2017, and another on Feb. 9, 2018.