SAN ANTONIO – A family is hoping for answers after their brother was killed in a car crash over the weekend.
Rolando Tavares, 28, and his girlfriend, Mandy Garza, 26, were killed on Interstate 10 near West Hildebrand Avenue Saturday morning when the car they were in was hit by a drunken driver.
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"It's hard. It seems unreal," said Llobana Tavares, the victim's sister. "One day he's here and the next day he's gone. It still seems unreal."
Police initially reported the Chevy Malibu that Rolando Tavares was driving had come to a stop on the highway after he struck a concrete wall. Soon after that, police said, Manuel Martinez Chavarria slammed his Ford F-150 into the car, killing the couple.
However, a witness has now come forward telling family members that she saw the Ford F-150 moving erratically on the highway before it slammed into Tavares' car, forcing it to spin out of control and hit the concrete wall.
"The witness said it wasn't my brother's fault," said Llobana Tavares. "The driver who crashed into my brother was actually the one who hit him first."
Although Chavarria was arrested on two counts of intoxication manslaughter, Tavares said they are still hoping more witnesses will come forward to set the record straight because her brother did not deserve to die this way.
"He was loving," Llobana Tavares said. "He was a good brother. He always wanted to be with us. He was a good friend."
San Antonio police said what has been released so far is only what was on the preliminary crash report and the case is still under investigation.
Any one who may have witnessed the accident is urged to call the San Antonio Police Department Traffic Investigations at 210-207-7273.