Mom who lost son in suspected drunken driving crash upset over driver's release

Benito Vasquez-Robles previously charged with DWI, records show

SAN ANTONIO – Family of a 22-year-old man killed by a suspected drunken driver on Oct. 20 expressed outrage at the release of the driver during a vigil Saturday.

Deputies said Benito Vasquez-Robles, 39, was traveling south on Highway 16 with his wife and child in his truck when he broadsided a sedan, killing David Hernandez.

Vasquez-Robles blamed Hernandez for the fatal crash, telling deputies Hernandez ran a stop sign, court documents state.

Courtesy: Bexar County Jail

Hernandez's family held a vigil at the crash site on Saturday.

"Why let him out? He killed somebody. Why? And he is out again,” David Hernandez's mother, Marlene Hernandez, said. “I mean, he is just going to keep on doing it.”

According to online records, Vasquez-Robles was sentenced to 15 months of probation after he was arrested on April 28, 2007, for driving while intoxicated and endangering a child.

Vasquez-Robles is charged with intoxication manslaughter in Hernandez's death. He was released from custody after posting $75,000 bail. 

Marlene Hernandez said that as much as she misses her son, nothing can bring him back.

“I miss him so much. So much," Marlene Hernandez said. "But I can't bring him back. There is no way. He is already gone.”


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