No charges for driver in downtown Houston crosswalk death
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Patricia Martin. Photo: Courtesy of the Martin family
Harris County grand jurors have declined to indict a pickup driver who fatally struck a 64-year-old woman in a downtown Houston crosswalk last year, leaving her family in "total shock."
Catch up quick: Patricia Martin was crossing at the intersection of Milam and Walker streets in January 2024 when the pickup driver turned and hit her, police said.
- The driver, Emmanuel Megrelis, failed to yield right of way to Martin as he rounded the corner, police determined. Martin's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against him last year as prosecutors mulled criminal charges.
Driving the news: Harris County prosecutors presented the case to a grand jury Jan. 30 seeking a state-jail felony charge against Megrelis under the Lisa Torry Smith Act, a 2021 Texas law named after a woman killed in a crosswalk that created a criminal offense for drivers in such instances.
- The panel issued a no bill — meaning it declined to press charges — under the statue, according to Harris County court records.
- Prosecutors the next day asked a different grand jury to indict Megrelis on a state-jail felony charge of criminally negligent homicide, but that panel also declined.
Friction point: The results left Martin's family doubting District Attorney Sean Teare's office.
- Other Texas prosecutors, including in neighboring Fort Bend County and Austin's Travis County, have successfully secured indictments under the Lisa Torry Smith Act.
What they're saying: "We're not actually sure what the district attorney's office presented to the grand jury," Zach Martin, the victim's son, told Axios.
- "We really doubt their ability to prosecute cases involving other victims if they're not able to achieve even an indictment in this case."
The other side: Teare's office did not comment on the grand juries' decisions, citing the secrecy of the proceedings.
- But spokesperson Courtney Fischer said "prosecutors inform grand juries of all applicable laws when presenting a case."
Flashback: Victim's families and advocates have pressured Harris County prosecutors to pursue charges under the relatively new law.
- In January, Axios reported that Teare said he would not pursue charges under the Lisa Torry Smith Act in crosswalk crashes involving death, opting to pursue other charges.
- He also told Houston Chronicle subscribers in a Q&A last month that while the law is a "tool in the toolbelt," he wanted "more Court of Criminal Appeals opinions" on the statute "before we go forward with it."
Martin's family met with prosecutors last week but left without many answers, Martin said.
The bottom line: "We feel defeated," Martin said. "(With) all the effort we put in it in the past year and everything, we really thought it would lead to at least an indictment. We just don't know what to do."
What's next: The wrongful death lawsuit against Megrelis is still ongoing, records show, and a trial date has not yet been set.