TYLER, Texas — A Tyler man who tested positive for marijuana, Xanax and meth at the time of a crash that killed an 8-year-old boy in a 2020 wreck on Loop 323 has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Jorge Alberto Ruiz Jr. pleaded guilty on Monday to intoxicated manslaughter in connection with the April 22, 2020 two-vehicle wreck on Texas 31 West and Loop 323, according to judicial records.
Following his guilty plea, Ruiz was sentenced to 15 years in prison, records show.
According to an arrest affidavit, Ruiz struck the vehicle that the child was in from behind. The 8-year-old was hospitalized and later died in at a Dallas facility due to the blunt force injures.
Police said in the document that Ruiz told officers he smoked marijuana before the crash and he agreed to a blood test.
A lab report from the Texas Department of Public Safety in July 2021 showed that Ruiz tested positive for Delta-9-THC (an active ingredient in marijuana), alprazolam (a generic name for Xanax) and methamphetamine in his system, the affidavit read.
In an interview with police after the wreck, Ruiz told officer he was sleepy after getting off work and that he was going home from Walmart. He said as he drove straight in the lane, he suddenly felt like the car would flip over like in the movie, “Fast and the Furious,” the affidavit explained.
Ruiz then panicked in the right lane, and he thought the other driver was in a rush and went toward him. He told police that he just woke up and “everybody tripped out,” the document stated.
Police said Ruiz’s vehicle struck the other car in the back while stopped in the outside left turn lane on Loop 323. That impact pushed the vehicle down the road significantly.
The document states Ruiz also attempted to hide a baggie of suspected marijuana after the crash. Data showed that he was going over the speed limit as well.