The Eyrie

FORT WORTH, TX — A Tarrant County jury has sentenced a Fort Worth motorist to 68 years in prison for a drunken driving crash that killed five people, including three children, on Interstate 35W.

Prosecutors said Eduardo Gonzalez, 21, was driving a Chevrolet Camaro at about 130 mph when the collision happened shortly after midnight on Aug. 19, 2024, near the East Seminary Drive exit. The crash ended with another vehicle catching fire, and everyone inside that car died.

The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office said the jury convicted Gonzalez of five counts of intoxication manslaughter. He was also ordered to pay a total of $50,000 in fines.

Victims identified in the deadly crash

Authorities identified the five people killed as Willie Lee Gunn, 48; Amber Dawn Hopewell, 38; Elijah Zane Carroll, 9; Chrystale Rayshell Cobbin, 4; and Amiyah LaShae Rose Fisher, 2.

Officials said the child victims’ sentences were structured differently from the adult victims’ sentences, which is what produced the 68-year total. The three counts tied to the children will be served consecutively, while the adult-related sentences will run at the same time.

That means Gonzalez will serve the child-related sentences one after another, rather than at the same time, in the prison term handed down by the jury.

Prosecutors say alcohol and THC were factors

Investigators said Gonzalez had consumed beer and THC before the crash. According to authorities, his Camaro struck another vehicle from behind, triggering the fire that killed the five people inside.

Officers who responded said Gonzalez had red, watery eyes, slurred speech, and smelled of alcohol. They also reported finding alcoholic beverages inside his car.

Assistant District Attorney Lloyd Whelchel said Gonzalez was traveling at high speed on I-35W and never looked up in time to avoid the vehicle ahead. Prosecutors described the driving as both intoxicated and reckless.

District attorney says the verdict holds him accountable

Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells said no prison term can undo the loss suffered by the victims’ families, but he said the sentence makes clear that Gonzalez is being held responsible for what happened.

His office announced the verdict in a news release on Friday, after the jury completed its punishment decision. The sentence closes one phase of a case that has already stretched for more than two years since the deadly crash.

The statement from prosecutors framed the punishment as accountability for each of the five deaths, all of which occurred in the same collision on the Fort Worth highway.

How the prison term was calculated

Gonzalez received 17 years on each of the five intoxication manslaughter convictions. The court then applied the sentences in a way that produced the overall 68-year term, with the three child-victim counts stacked and the adult-victim counts running at the same time.

That sentencing structure is why the total exceeds the 17-year term assigned to any single count. Prosecutors said the arrangement reflects the separate loss suffered by each victim’s family while still following the jury’s punishment decision.

The $50,000 in fines was added on top of the prison sentence, further increasing the penalties imposed in the case.

Crash case adds to highway safety concerns in Fort Worth

The deadly wreck happened on one of the region’s busiest highways, and the speed prosecutors described made the collision especially devastating. The case underscores how quickly intoxicated driving at high speed can turn fatal for everyone involved.

In this case, the impact led to a fire that trapped the five victims in the second vehicle. Prosecutors said the driver’s impairment, combined with the speed of the Camaro, made the crash unavoidable once he failed to notice the car ahead.

CBS News Texas said it will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available. For now, the sentencing brings a major legal milestone in a case marked by the deaths of three children and two adults.