There was just one way to describe the scene of a fatal traffic accident, according to an E.M.S. technician who testified Tuesday during the trial of a woman facing intoxication manslaughter charges.

“It was horrific”, Lt. Jeremy Huntsman told the jury during testimony in the trial of Jenny Ann Ybarra.

Investigators said Ybarra, 32, was driving drunk and going the wrong way on Southeast Loop 410 when she slammed head-on into another car in the early morning hours of Dec. 16, 2007.

Erika Nicole Smith, 23, a backseat passenger in that car, died the next day in the hospital.

Huntsman testified that he and his EMS colleagues examined Smith upon arrival and that she appeared to be dead. They left only to return soon after when other technicians detected that Smith had a faint pulse.

“He ended up taking off his glove and feeling because he couldn’t tell with his glove on and he found a very faint pulse," Huntsman testified as he described a fellow technician’s action.

Four EMS technicians were later disciplined for their initial misdiagnosis.

If Ybarra is convicted, she is facing a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.

Testimony will continue on Wednesday in Judge Lori Valenzuela’s 437^th District Court.