Family identifies 24-year-old man killed after suspected drunk driver barrels through red light

KATY, Texas (KTRK) -- A family is devastated after 24-year-old man was killed in Katy after a suspected drunk driver ran through a red light.

Ivan Duran, the uncle of Renzo Olano-Flores, said the family was over at Duran's home Saturday evening playing games and hanging out.

Duran said he lives less than 10 minutes away from Olano-Flores' family's home.

"We were playing cards until about 2:15 a.m.," Duran said. "We just played cards. No drinking at all."

Harris County deputies said at about 2:20 a.m., Olano-Flores was driving a Mazda traveling east on Franz Road and entered the intersection of Franz and Westgreen Boulevard.

During that time, a woman identified as Ilianna Zepeda driving a 2017 Ford Fusion was traveling north on Westgreen Boulevard. Deputies said Zepeda drove through the red light slamming into vehicle of Olano-Flores, causing the Mazda to roll over and flip into the parking lot of a nearby gas station.

Gas station surveillance video captured the violent crash.

Investigators said Zepeda walked away from the crash and returned later showing signs of intoxication.

Olano-Flores was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

According to court records, Zepeda had a previous record of a driving while intoxicated charge in May of 2021. On Sunday, Zepeda was charged with failure to stop and render aid resulting in death and intoxication manslaughter.

Olano-Flores' family were visibly distraught Sunday but were standing together at their home two miles away from the scene of the crash.

"What I want is justice for my brother so that this won't happen to anybody else," said Juan, the victim's brother, as he held family photos in his hands. "This could be somebody's son, somebody's kid. Somebody's brother, but it was my brother."

Juan said his younger brother was just two classes away from graduating with his Bachelor's degree from the University of Houston.

"He started this wonderful internship doing project management," Juan said. "The world was his oyster. I was so proud of him. Now, I just want justice to be done. This is not fair. He was very loveable. We loved him and so proud of him."

Juan said that he, too, was involved in a crash in the same intersection about three years ago, and the driver at fault also ran a red light.

John Lockhart told ABC13 he has lived in the area for 20 years. Lockhart said he was in a near-miss crash when a sheriff deputy allegedly ran the red light last year.

"There has to be some type of sign, speed bump or something," Lockhart said. "I don't know. It's just a matter of time before something else happens. I've seen so many accidents here."

Both the Olano-Flores family and Lockhart said the intersection is dangerous.

Lockhart said he approached the intersection and saw it was blocked off as deputies were investigating the deadly crash.

"That's when I thought something horrible must have happened," he said. "I'm so sad somebody actually lost their life because of it. It's very tragic."

The Olano-Flores family set up a GoFundMe page tp help pay for funeral expenses.

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