A Texas man charged with manslaughter after hitting the mother of his one-year-old child with his car will retain his parental rights, a judge has ruled.
Ulise DeLao, 29, was arrested on May 28 and charged with intoxication manslaughter in Canyon, Texas, following a crash involving a pedestrian. DeLao struck 27-year-old Brittany Torres as she stood outside the vehicle, and she was pronounced dead at the scene, Canyon police said at the time.
An online fundraiser for Torres’ family said she and DeLao were dating.
Randall County court records show he is charged with manslaughter. In August, a grand jury declined to indict DeLao on murder charges. He pleaded not guilty shortly after his arrest, said his attorney in the criminal case, Jesse Quackenbush.
On Monday, a Randall County judge ruled in a separate case that DeLao can retain his parental rights over his 1-year-old child with Torres.
The day after Torres’ death, her mother, Jaqueline Sanchez, filed a petition in Randall County Civil Court to become the legal guardian of DeLao and Torres’ son, Law&Crime and local ABC station KVII-TV reported. NBC News has reviewed the docket summary for that case.
However, on Monday, Judge James W. Anderson rejected the bid to terminate DeLao’s parental rights, media reported.
“The judge refused to terminate his parental rights,” Quackenbush told NBC News. “It is not at all the intention of the court to deprive him of his parental rights now or in the future. The judge made a final, non-appeal decision based on his finding that there was no evidence to terminate parental rights.”
An attorney for DeLao in the civil case did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
Blair Saylor Oscarsson, an attorney for Sanchez, said she was “devastated” by the judge’s decision and “feared for the child’s safety.”
“The judge found that there was clear and convincing evidence that Mr. DeLao endangered the child’s physical health or emotional well-being, but found that he had not found sufficient evidence that termination of treatment was in the child’s best interests is,” said Oscarsson. Sanchez is attempting to file a motion asking the judge to reconsider the case.
Quackenbush said there was no intentional crime in May’s death. “After our grand jury looked at it with a fine-tooth comb in Randall County, Texas, they determined that there is no evidence of intentional conduct, that this is at best a case of manslaughter or accidental death,” he said on the grand jury. the jury’s refusal to indict DeLao on murder charges in the case.
Quackenbush said his client admitted to running over his girlfriend, but said it was accidental.
“She had gotten out of the car extremely drunk at her house, where my client had driven her, and he drove away in a very normal manner, and she was in the back of the car, and he didn’t know it, and she was run over and accidentally killed,” he said.
Oscarsson alleged a history of domestic violence between DeLao and Torres.
Quackenbush denied allegations that DeLao insulted Torres.
DeLao was released in October on a $250,000 bond, records show. Under his bond conditions, he is not allowed to use alcohol or drugs, is not allowed to leave Potter, Randall or Armstrong counties, must surrender any passports, must have a device installed on his vehicle that uses “a deep lung breathing mechanism” and must he wears a GPS tracking device.
Quackenbush said DeLao, whom he described as an honorably discharged veteran who served six years in the Marine Corps with no prior criminal record, plans to fight the manslaughter charge.
Torres’ aunt, Jessica Heller, said Torres was a “shining light” who could “brighten any room as soon as she walked in.”
“She deserved nothing but love, kindness and respect – never to be hurt or made to feel small. Her voice was hers to be heard, and it is our promise, as her family, to continue to speak on her behalf and honor her memory with all the love she deserved,” she added.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
