Bandera County, TX — May 25, 2025, Valeri Mireles was killed and one other was injured after an alleged DWI accident at around 1:40 a.m. on Highway 173.

According to initial details, 19-year-old Valeri Mireles was in a Kia Flex going northbound along the highway. A Chevy Camaro was in the southbound lanes. Officials say the Camaro crossed into oncoming lanes, and the vehicles collided head-on.

Due to the crash, Valeri Mireles was killed. The other driver was taken from the scene with unspecified injuries. The Camaro driver was accused of being impaired at the time. Authorities say there are pending charges for intoxication manslaughter.

Commentary

When I see reports of a deadly crash in the early morning hours where impairment is alleged, it’s hard not to wonder about the steps that led up to it. In fact, it's important to know specifically what intoxicant led to the crash. If it was alcohol, where did the drinking happen, and did someone over-serve a person who was already obviously intoxicated?

That question matters because Texas law makes it clear that alcohol providers share in the responsibility for public safety. Dram shop law prohibits bars, restaurants, or any alcohol-serving business from continuing to serve someone who shows signs of obvious intoxication. That standard isn’t theoretical—it exists precisely to prevent situations where someone too impaired to drive ends up on the road anyway.

But this part of the story is almost never front and center. Law enforcement focuses on crash evidence and potential criminal charges, and rightly so. Still, in doing that, the investigation often stops short of identifying whether an alcohol provider enabled the danger by serving someone who should have been cut off. That’s not just an oversight—it can mean that key parts of the story never come to light.

In a case like this, where a young life was lost and impairment is alleged, it’s critical to explore all contributing factors. Maybe alcohol wasn't the intoxicant here, but it's important to make that distinction as soon as possible. Accountability doesn’t begin and end at a crash site. Sometimes it starts hours earlier, behind a bar, with a decision to pour one drink too many.

Three key takeaways:

1. Texas dram shop law holds alcohol providers to a legal standard: they must not over-serve patrons who are obviously intoxicated.
2. In many cases involving alleged impairment, no one investigates where the alcohol came from unless someone insists on that line of inquiry.
3. Understanding the full scope of a crash means looking beyond the road—to the decisions made before the driver ever got behind the wheel.