Investigators say the suspect told deputies he looked down after a call before the SUV swerved onto the Dallas shoulder.
DALLAS, Texas — New details in an arrest affidavit outline how a tow truck driver helping with a flat tire on Interstate 20 was fatally struck Wednesday, leading to an intoxication manslaughter charge against the driver of a silver SUV.
The affidavit matters because it gives the clearest public account yet of what deputies say happened before and after the crash near Spur 408 and Mountain Creek Parkway. Authorities said the victim, Guillermo Garcia, was working on the shoulder when the SUV left its path and hit him and the tow truck. The suspect, Selvin Omar Amador Morazan, was later jailed, and investigators said he acknowledged drinking earlier in the day. The filing also frames several questions that are still open, including whether distraction, impairment or both drove the sequence that ended with Garcia’s death.
According to deputies, the emergency call came in at about 3:43 p.m. Wednesday from a witness near a gas station who reported that a man had just been hit by a vehicle. By the time first responders arrived, Garcia was on the right shoulder unconscious but breathing, with severe head injuries. Investigators said he had been assisting a 59-year-old driver with a flat tire when the crash happened. The tow truck itself, according to the affidavit, was still on the shoulder. That point became central to the early investigation because it suggested Garcia was not working in a live lane when the SUV reached him. Garcia was taken to Methodist Central Hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead. The location, westbound I-20 near Spur 408 and Mountain Creek Parkway, turned into a closure point while deputies processed the scene and interviewed witnesses.
The affidavit also lays out the suspect’s first statements to investigators. Deputies identified the SUV driver as Morazan and wrote that he said he looked down after receiving a call from his wife. When he looked back up, he told deputies, he realized he had hit something. Investigators said he told them he was driving to work at a Chicken Express in Grand Prairie. Deputies also recorded observations they said were consistent with alcohol use: red, glossy eyes and a strong odor of alcohol coming from the back of the patrol car. They wrote that Morazan admitted drinking one 12-ounce Michelada around 12:20 p.m., several hours before the crash. Public reporting has not yet included the result of any blood test or a full toxicology report, and authorities have not publicly explained whether phone records or in-vehicle data have been secured. Those unanswered points could become important as prosecutors build the case.
Outside the affidavit, witness accounts gave the case a more immediate emotional frame. Jose Moreno-Mercado, who had come to help Garcia with the tire, described Garcia as a kind man known for helping others. He told local television that the SUV came by and hit Garcia, sending his boots, hat and other belongings across the highway. Moreno-Mercado said he then tried to wave down help and stayed with Garcia as he lay badly hurt. The details matter because they place Garcia in the role he appeared to occupy in life and in death: someone who stopped to help another driver. That part of the story has shaped the public response as much as the arrest itself. In local coverage, Garcia is remembered not through formal statements from an employer or agency, but through the words of a friend who said Garcia would help anyone who needed it.
The legal track is only beginning. Morazan was booked on intoxication manslaughter, a felony charge used when prosecutors allege that intoxication caused a death in a vehicle case. Reports Thursday said records also showed an immigration hold, though that is separate from the criminal allegation connected to the crash itself. Prosecutors will likely rely on a mix of physical evidence, medical records, witness testimony and any chemical testing to determine how strongly to press the case. Defense lawyers, if appointed or retained, may scrutinize the timeline between the reported drinking and the collision, as well as the evidence supporting intoxication at the scene. Authorities have not publicly announced a hearing date, and no public filing reviewed so far explains whether more counts could be added. The next steps are expected to come through routine court proceedings and any added release of sheriff’s office or prosecutor records.
The crash also fits a grim pattern that highway workers know well. Tow operators and roadside crews often work in narrow margins next to fast-moving vehicles, where one drift or one glance away from the road can have fatal consequences. Garcia’s death did not happen during a major pileup or storm event; it happened during a basic roadside tire repair, the kind of call that draws little notice until it turns catastrophic. That ordinary setting is part of why the story has resonated in North Texas. A man stopped to do a job and help another driver, witnesses say, and was hit on the shoulder in broad daylight. For investigators, the task ahead is technical and procedural. For those who knew Garcia, the meaning is simpler and harder: a workday ended with a loss that cannot be reversed.
As of Friday, the public case record showed a fatal shoulder-side crash, one felony arrest and several questions still waiting on fuller evidence. The next major developments are expected to come from court scheduling, toxicology information and any additional affidavit or charging updates released in the days ahead.
Author note: Last updated March 20, 2026.