Harris County – Rosahura Alecio of northwest Harris County said she has been forced to relive a tragedy after Saturday’s arrest of 61-year-old Donna Kurtz.
Kurtz was convicted of intoxication manslaughter after a head-on collision in 2008 injured Alecio and killed the baby she was carrying. Alecio said she actually had to ride in the same ambulance as Kurtz to the hospital that day.
“I relived the entire day all over again,” Alecio said. “The minute that I saw her name, it (was) all relived. It all came back to me.”
Neighbors tell KPRC 2 that deputies arrested Kurtz in front of her home on Saturday evening.
Investigators said this was after a fire chief followed her because he said she had been driving unusually slowly. Deputies said when she arrived at her house, she got out of the vehicle and fell to the ground. They say she then admitted to drinking a bottle of chardonnay.
In addition to the current charge and the 2008 conviction, Kurtz also was arrested in 2006 for resisting arrest and failure to stop and give info.
Alecio said she was too distraught in 2008 to pursue a stronger sentence against Kurtz. She says if Kurtz is convicted this time, that won’t be the case now.
“I’m not gonna sit around like I did last time,” she said. “If there’s anything I can do to help, I’m more than willing and happy to do so.”
We spoke with KPRC 2 News’ legal analyst Brian Wice who told us that Texas law provides that a defendant may be denied bond only in the most limited set of circumstances and that because Kurtz’s prosecution does not fall within any of them, the trial judge was required to set a reasonable bond.