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It is day two of the trial for a former Texas State student accused of driving drunk and causing a crash that killed a man and his unborn child. For the first time, jurors saw the aftermath of a crash that would take the lives of a soon to be father and his unborn child.
On August 2, 2016, Sondria Patterson got behind Shana Elliott’s red Chevy Impala on Highway 21 in San Marcos. “As I was leaving work I saw a car swerving and the car swerved out of control,” said Sondria Patterson, witness.
She says she went off to the shoulder to avoid the vehicle and then it crashed into another car. “When I looked up the red car was spinning in the middle of the road and the black car was heading toward the right side of the road,” Patterson said.
The people in the black car were Fabian and Kristian Guerrero.
Fabian was unconscious with what paramedics said was a significant injury to his abdomen.
His legs were pinned by the dash.
Kristian, who was five months pregnant, had a head injury as well as an injury to her stomach. “Her face was covered in blood,” said Patterson. “She was panicking and she didn’t have anybody there so she asked me just to stay with her for a few minutes till she calmed down. She kept asking about her husband.”
Several witnesses testified as to seeing Elliott with a liquor bottle. “When I went over to the car in the middle of the road, I saw whoever was in it kind of toss a bottle out of the car and it rolled and they tried to get out and help the best they could,” said Otto Gindler, witness.
Officers did locate the liquor bottle and took this photo of it.
Otto Gindler says he had to physically restrain Elliott because she tried to get the injured passengers out of the car. “She felt so bad. She kept saying it should’ve been her and not them. How she wished it was her not them. At one point she was saying if they didn’t make it she would kill herself. I could tell she felt really bad it was hard to be there and hold her back from trying to help,” said Gindler.
Drivers also testified to Elliott's intoxicated state.
“The defendant should not have been driving that day,” said Addison Shreffler, witness.