Houston man appears in court after allegedly killing mom, 3 kids in DUI crash
A deputy stopped Daniel Canada prior to the crash for speeding who admitted to having marijuana in his possession but was let go
A mother and her children lost their lives in a car accident police could have possibly prevented.
Daniel Canada is accused of hitting the back of the vehicle being driven by a mother, Porsha Branch whose three kids were also in the car Sunday night. Canada was intoxicated and had been stopped by a deputy for speeding just before the collision but the officer let him go, per abc13.
“This is a tragedy. This is a situation of, again, a possible impaired driver who basically snuffs a family out of existence,” said Constable Mark Herman earlier this week. “We at Precinct 4 will do everything we can investigatively to prosecute this individual and hold him accountable.”
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“She’s the love of my life and it’s just hard for me to see my wife and three of our kids gone,” said Damien House. “I thought it would get easier, but it just seems to get harder and harder each day.”
He added: “She was a down-to-earth person. She had a wonderful heart. Always helpful. A wonderful mother. She’d give you the shirt off her back. … I’ll never forget her.”
Canada, 35, was taken to the hospital with “bumps and bruises” after the crash which took place on FM 2920 near Gosling in Spring, TX.
The impact of the crash caused Branch’s to hit the car ahead of hers, causing a 7 car pile up. Her car burst into flames killing the mother instantly along with her 7-month-old. Her 2-year-old and 5-year-old passed away at the hospital.
Canada’s blood-alcohol level was 0.15%, which is twice the level in Texas when he was first stopped around 8 p.m. But when an officer pulled him over for speeding, he let Canada go and claimed he didn’t appear intoxicated. The officer collected the weed Canada had in the car.
“The deputy had the driver exit the vehicle and briefly detained him. The driver told the deputy he had a small amount of marijuana in the vehicle, which the deputy took into evidence,” said the sheriff’s office.
An internal investigation is being done to see if the officer followed protocol.
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Canada appeared at the 337th District Court on Wednesday. The charges against him are four counts of intoxication, manslaughter, and one count of intoxication assault. He was assigned a court-appointed dui defense lawyer.
“Driving impaired is 100% preventable. Don’t do it,” warned Herman. “It’s a choice.”
Others involved in the crash sustained minor injuries. A candlelight vigil is being planned for the mother and her three children.
Canada is in jail and has a bond hearing on Friday.
An attorney general was recently questioned for his involvement in a fatal car crash, per theGrio. Investigators were skeptical about answers given by South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg while looking into a deadly car crash.
Ravnsborg struck an individual while driving on Sept. 12, 2020, but what surprises those investigating the incident is that he claims he didn’t know he fatally struck the victim.
According to USA Today, Joe Boever, 55, was walking on the side of Highway 14 west of Highmore when he was struck by a vehicle. Boever had been walking back toward a white pickup truck he was fixing when the Ford Taurus hit him.
The video footage features two separate interviews with investigators questioning Ravnsborg, who insists he did not see Boever. He also claims he “did not know there was a human until the next day.”
“His face was in your windshield, Jason. Think about that,” said a detective with the North Dakota Bureau of Investigation during the Sept. 30 interview.
The outlet reports Ravnsborg said he was not on his phone despite evidence saying he logged onto his phone minutes before the crash happened.
“So when we look at that, our concern is everything we are seeing here is it’s appearing you were on your phone reading political stuff at the time,” said an investigator during the interrogation. “Part of this, Jason, is we have a job, right? People make mistakes. We’re thinking you made one.”
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