Woman testifies against ex-husband in intoxication assault trial

Hector Hernandez-Pacheco rear ended 18-wheeler with 3 kids in car

SAN ANTONIO – She told of a phone call that no mother ever wants to receive.​​​​​​

Lilliana Ramos was testifying Monday in the intoxication assault trial of Hector Hernandez-Pacheco. 

He was behind the wheel on the night of March 19, 2017 when plowed into the rear of a parked semitrailer.

Speaking through an interpreter, Ramos told the jury about a call from Pacheco.

“I recall that he told me that he crashed,” she said.  “And that the children were headed to the hospital.”

Her children, ages 8, 7 and 2 years old, were being treated at University Hospital.

Ramos said her youngest child was the most seriously hurt.

“He had a gaze toward the ceiling, like he was lost,” she sobbed.

Prosecutors say that Pacheco admitted drinking seven or eight beers before the crash. And toxicology reports showed he had methamphetamine in his system.

Pacheco’s aunt Luz Pacheco, testifying for the defense, said he seemed fine that night as he left her house with the children in the back seat of his car. She said he didn’t appear to be intoxicated and she was certain that he had not used methamphetamine.

“What I’m saying is that I didn’t know he had taken that,” she testified. “But, as a nurse, I would have seen that.”

Pacheco was not hurt in the crash and the children have since recovered from their injuries.

Ramos has since divorced Pacheco.

A guilty verdict could mean up to 10 years in prison for Pacheco.


About the Author:

Paul Venema is a courthouse reporter for KSAT with more than 25 years experience in the role.