Houston teen identified as human smuggling suspect accused of crashing at end of chase, killing 8

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KTRK) -- A Houston teenager is accused of smuggling several migrants, leading police on a chase, and smashing into an oncoming vehicle before his death on a South Texas highway last week.

The video above is ABC13's 24/7 livestream.

The Associated Press initially reported that the driver was 21 years old, but on Monday, Texas authorities identified 17-year-old Luiz Alfredo Mencias-Escobar as the suspected human smuggler.

On Nov. 8, eight people, including an innocent couple in their late 60s from Georgia, died due to the wreck near Batesville, about 80 miles southwest of San Antonio, according to investigators.

The deadly crash happened when Mencias-Escobar was driving a 2009 Honda Civic, and allegedly tried to outrun deputies from the Zavala County Sheriff's Office.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said Mencias-Escobar tried to pass a semi-truck on a two-way road when he crashed head-on into a 2015 Chevrolet Equinox, which caught on fire.

Everyone in both vehicles was killed, according to DPS. That includes Mencias-Escobar, who was from Houston, and his five passengers. Some of the passengers were from Honduras, department spokesman Christopher Olivarez said in a statement.

The family of the couple from Georgia, Jose and Isabel Lerma, sent Eyewitness News a photo of their loved ones.

Authorities confirmed that this wasn't Mencias-Escobar's first run-in with the law.

The Zavala County Sheriff's Office confirmed on social media that on April 17, Mencias-Escobar was pulled over while driving west on U.S. Highway 57 for a traffic violation.

During the traffic stop, deputies said they found he was coming from Houston without a driver's license, and his passenger was an underage, undocumented boy.

The passenger was turned over to the Uvalde Border Patrol, and Mencias-Escobar was later returned to his mother in Houston, according to deputies.

Chris Olivarez, with DPS, reposted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the teenager was in federal custody and released to his mother in Houston seven months before the deadly crash.

"Records show Luiz (Luis) Alfredo Mencias-Escobar is from Honduras and crossed into Eagle Pass back in April of 2019. He was released with a Notice to Appear in November, where a judge ordered his removal," the post, written by news correspondent Ali Bradley, said.

The Lerma family told ABC13 a GoFundMe was created to help with funeral arrangements.

ORIGINAL REPORT: 8 killed in fiery crash after deputies chased suspected human smuggler near San Antonio, DPS says