SAN ANTONIO – Witnesses estimated that Antonio Flores was going 70 mph when he crashed his sedan on Feb. 19, 2013.
Inside the car were three other Brandeis High School students. The group left the Northside campus on their lunch hour.
Gabriella Lerma and Georgina Rodriguez were killed, Flores and another passenger survived. Flores is charged with two counts of manslaughter.
“The vehicle was accelerating at a high rate of speed,” San Antonio police detective Matthew Murray testified during Flores’ trial on Monday.
Murray is a crash investigation expert in SAPD’s Traffic Investigation Division.
Before the crash, Murray estimated Flores was going between 80 and 90 mph. Prosecutors said that estimate has been validated by an automotive industry expert. He also estimated the car was going between 50 and 60 mph when it crashed into a truck. Flores was traveling in the left turn only lane at the time, he said.
Murray said that based on what witnesses told him, and evidence at the scene, he believed that Flores was racing with another car at the time.
On cross examination, Murray testified not all witnesses said Flores was racing.
If he is convicted, Flores would face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Testimony is expected to continue Tuesday in Judge Sid Harle’s 226th District Court.