A Leander man has been charged with murder and DWI in connection to a crash that killed a woman and injured four others in northwest Austin early Sunday morning.
Austin Travis County EMS said the crash happened around 2:20 a.m. Jan. 15, on U.S. 183 near Anderson Mill Road. According to an arrest affidavit, Julio Bernal-Morales, 35, of Leander was driving a Chrysler 300 with three passengers, including a 4-year-old and a 5-year-old in the back seat. Bernal-Morales rear-ended a Jeep Wrangler driven by a 27-year-old woman. Bernal-Morales' passenger, Marina Renee Romero, 43, was killed in the crash.
The driver of the Jeep was transported to Seton Round Rock Hospital and intubated with a brain bleed. A dog in her Jeep survived.
Bernal-Morales was transported to Seton Round Rock Hospital while his child passengers were taken to Dell Children's Hospital to be treated for their injuries, which were described in the affidavit as "non-life threatening."
APD noted in the affidavit that Bernal-Morales "had a moderate odor" of alcohol, and that his eyes were bloodshot, glassy and dilated. According to the affidavit, Bernal-Morales provided a breath sample of 0.142 shortly before 4:30 a.m., approximately two hours after the crash.
Morales was booked into the Williamson County Jail on Wednesday on a murder charge and two felony charges of DWI with child passenger. Online records state he is being held on combined $1 million bond.
