5-year-old dies days after crash, suspected drunk driver charged with manslaughter

Four people - including a 5-year-old girl - were hospitalized after an overnight wreck on Harrisburg and 75th. Four people - including a 5-year-old girl - were hospitalized after an overnight wreck on Harrisburg and 75th. Photo: Metro Video Photo: Metro Video Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close 5-year-old dies days after crash, suspected drunk driver charged with manslaughter 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

A 5-year-old died in the hospital Sunday, a week after a suspected drunk driver on the way home from a bar plowed into her mother's car.

Prosecutors are upping the charges against Isreal Suarez Lugo, the 34-year-old oil company worker allegedly responsible for the wreck that killed Giselle Luviano.

The two-car wreck on Jan. 20 in the Greater East End left four people injured, two seriously enough to yield a pair of intoxication assault charges. From the start, authorities said Luvianol was "fighting for her life."

Lugo was released on Wednesday after posting $40,000 bail. But on Sunday, after Giselle's death, authorities put out a warrant for one count of intoxication manslaughter, according to prosecutor Sean Teare.

At the time of the crash, Lugo was on his way back from Time Out #1 Sports bar on Fuqua, officials said in court. He admitted to drinking 12 Michelob Ultra beers and was headed to his brother's place to drink some more, Teare said.

It was just after 1 a.m. when a driver along Harrisburg near 75th spotted a red Chevy pickup driving erratically and swerving out of the lane, authorities said.

When the truck approached a red light, Lugo allegedly sped on through without hitting the brakes, according to the witnesses in the vehicle behind. His truck T-boned a black Cadillac headed north on 75th, injuring all four of the people inside.

The three older victims - a 15-year-old and two adults - were less seriously injured, but Giselle ended up with traumatic brain injuries and was rushed into surgery. She was the fifth person killed in Harris County that night in a driving fatality likely due to intoxication, according to what prosecutors said in court last week.

Also last week, Lugo's attorneys disputed the official account of the evening, saying that their client was not drunk.

"I think he's an innocent man," said Paul Looney, who is defending Lugo along with co-counsel Clay Conrad. "I don't think he was intoxicated and I think we'll be able to prove it. And I don't think he's the one who ran the red light."

If convicted on the new charge - a second-degree felony - Lugo could face up to 20 years in prison.