The Eyrie

CONROE, TX — A Conroe man has been arrested in connection with a fatal wrong-way crash on Interstate 45 that killed a woman in October, according to police. Conroe police said 20-year-old Kaden Patrick Lamoreau turned himself in Monday night after an arrest warrant was issued following the crash.

The collision happened before dawn on Oct. 25 in the northbound lanes of the North Freeway near the Highway 105 exit. Investigators said a pickup truck traveling the wrong direction hit a white SUV head-on, killing 59-year-old Emelia Muniz at the scene.

Police say callers reported a pickup racing northbound lanes the wrong way

According to Conroe police, the first emergency calls came in at about 4:40 a.m. from people who said they saw a pickup truck driving southbound in the northbound lanes at more than 100 miles per hour. Officers then received multiple calls reporting a serious crash in the same area near Highway 105.

That sequence of calls helped investigators track the pickup before and after impact, police said. The crash shut down the roadway scene long enough for emergency crews and investigators to respond to what turned out to be a deadly head-on collision.

Emelia Muniz was killed when her SUV was struck head-on

Officials identified the woman killed in the crash as Emelia Muniz, 59. Police said she was driving northbound in a white SUV when the pickup entered her lane and struck her vehicle directly.

Muniz was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities did not release additional details about her route or why she was on the freeway at that hour, but the collision immediately became a fatal crash investigation for Conroe police.

Lamoreau was hospitalized before surrendering to Montgomery County Jail

Police identified the pickup driver as Lamoreau and said he suffered serious injuries in the collision. He was taken to the hospital after the crash, where he remained until he was released, authorities said.

After leaving the hospital, Lamoreau surrendered himself at the Montgomery County Jail on Monday night. Conroe police said the arrest was made on an outstanding warrant connected to the crash.

Investigators and prosecutors built the case for intoxicated manslaughter

Conroe police said their investigation was conducted with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office. Based on that work, officers obtained a warrant for Lamoreau on a charge of intoxicated manslaughter, which is a second-degree felony.

The charge reflects the seriousness of the allegations tied to the deadly wreck, though police did not publicly provide further details about the evidence used to support the warrant. The arrest marks a major step in the case as prosecutors and investigators continue handling the aftermath of the October crash.

Wrong-way freeway crashes remain among the most dangerous road events

Police have not said what led Lamoreau to drive the wrong way or whether impairment was a factor beyond the charge itself. What officials did say is that the truck was reportedly moving at extreme speed in the opposite direction of traffic before the head-on impact.

Wrong-way collisions on high-speed freeways are often among the deadliest traffic incidents because drivers have little time to react. In this case, the impact killed Muniz and left the pickup driver badly hurt, setting off an investigation that ended weeks later with the intoxicated manslaughter arrest.