McAllen man charged in fatal crash on South Padre Island

A The McAllen man has been charged in the fatal wrong-way crash that killed a 20-year-old woman on the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway in early June.

A Cameron County grand jury indicted Hugo Lara, 48, on Aug. 21. He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, but court records show an attorney has requested a waiver of charges.

Lara is charged with murder Maria Desiree Enriquez on June 2nd.

He is accused of negligent homicide under the influence of alcohol.

Lara is accused of being drunk when he drove a white 2023 Ford F-150 westbound in the eastbound lane of the causeway and collided with Enriquez's red 2008 Kia.

She had celebrated her graduation.

The accident occurred around 1:45 a.m

The family has since then filed a lawsuit against Larawhich states that he has already been arrested twice for drunk driving and once for assaulting two police officers.

According to the lawsuit, Lara was out drinking at a friend's birthday party on the island.

“In a highly intoxicated state, Lara decided to drive back, driving her 2023 Ford pickup truck the wrong way on the embankment. He drove westbound into the eastbound lanes, colliding head-on with Mariah's 2008 Kia car, fatally injuring the young woman,” the family's attorney previously said in a statement.

Lara remains free on $350,000 bail.