Family mourns man killed while street racing: 'It's not worth it'

Oscar Chavez, 23, killed Saturday night

SAN ANTONIO – Jorge Manzanares recalls the last few moments he spent with his cousin, Oscar Chavez, who he said was more like a brother.

"I saw him the day before. He was just talking about getting married to his girlfriend (and) spending time with his daughter,” Manzanares said. “He just bought a house. Just got a car. Promotion at work. (He) had everything going for him the right way."

Just before 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Chavez, 23, went out for a ride in his new Camaro.

"They were racing. The race started at the light. They were heading down, going over 100 mph,” Manzanares said. "His thing was he liked to speed, you know, you can't tell nobody what to do."

San Antonio police said Chavez lost control on his car in the 3300 block of Research Plaza and crashed.

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Manzanares believes Chavez died on impact after rolling into a ravine. Chavez's girlfriend was sitting in the passenger seat. They both were taken to Mission Trail Baptist Hospital.

Chavez was pronounced dead, but his girlfriend was able to escape serious injuries.

Police arrested Camron Sanchez Vasquez. Investigators believe Vasquez was in the other car involved in the race. Vasquez was charged with a felony racing on a highway.

Manzanares said instead of being angry, he hopes others learn from this horrific accident.

“It's not worth it. It's not worth the pain. If you're going to race, there's race tracks," he said.

 


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