No evidence of mechanical malfunction found after Tesla crash that killed grandmother, HCSO says

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- The Harris County Sheriff's Office says that investigators have found no evidence of a mechanical malfunction in the deadly Tesla crash that killed a grandmother inside a Katy home last week.

At this time, deputies say that they are still conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the crash that killed 71-year-old Martha Avila on June 19.

The crash happened in a typically quiet neighborhood near Fry Road while the Barbour family was preparing dinner. According to Avila's son-in-law, she was in the front playroom when the Tesla slammed through the front of the house.

ORIGINAL REPORT: Driver told deputies Tesla was on Autopilot during crash through Katy-area home, killing woman: HCSO

Video provided by the family shows the vehicle plowing directly into the home. Avila suffered catastrophic injuries and later died.

The Harris County Sheriff's Department said the driver of the Tesla told its investigators at the time that the car was on autopilot when it hit the house.

ABC13 reached out to Tesla about that driver's assertion. Tesla never responded. But, on Monday afternoon, Ashok Elluswamy, Vice President of Auto-Pilot for Tesla, commented on the X social media platform about the crash. In a reply complaining about media coverage of the crash, Elluswamy indicated that the driver had manually overridden the autopilot and was driving at 73 miles per hour.

His reply stated: "Yup. In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accelerator pedal in this residential area. They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash."

Besides the Harris County Sheriff's Department, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened its own investigation into the incident.

According to HCSO, once evidence is gathered, it will be presented to the Harris County District Attorney's Office to determine whether criminal charges are appropriate.

SEE ALSO: Tesla says driver overrode auto-pilot in crash that killed a grandmother