20-year-old driver charged with intoxication manslaughter in airborne crash near Johnson Space Center

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A passenger died after the pickup he was in cartwheeled along Space Center Boulevard in Clear Lake.

Police say the driver of the truck got into a minor crash around 9 p.m. Thursday, then sped off and lost control. The pickup crossed into oncoming traffic, left the road, went airborne and flipped several times into a ditch.

The two men inside were thrown from the vehicle. Both men were taken to a Clear Lake Regional Medical Center. The driver, identified by police as Casey G. Goodwin, 20, had serious but non-life-threatening injuries, but the 21-year-old passenger died.

Police say a friend who was driving behind them says they had been drinking.

"The friend did say that they were drinking beer and alcohol all throughout the day," said Sgt. Thomas Fendia with the Houston Police Department. "When they left wherever they were at, somewhere near Kemah, the driver was driving erratically throughout their entire trip home."

Goodwin has been charged with intoxication manslaughter.