Houston man charged with intoxication manslaughter after fatal northwest crash
A late-night crash on Hollister Street killed a passenger and put Pablo Maravilla, 50, in court on an intoxication manslaughter charge.
A Houston man was charged with intoxication manslaughter after a deadly crash in northwest Houston left his passenger dead near Hollister Street and West Little York Road. Pablo Maravilla, 50, was charged in the 180th Criminal District Court after the wreck, which investigators said happened about 4 a.m. Sunday.
Houston police said Maravilla was driving a gray Toyota Tundra northbound at a high rate of speed when the truck struck a raised concrete sidewalk, lost control and then hit a metal fence. No other vehicles were involved. The passenger died at the scene, and the identity of the deceased man was still pending verification by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.
Maravilla remained hospitalized, and no booking photo was available yet, according to the City of Houston Newsroom. The crash unfolded in the 7000 block of Hollister Street, a stretch in northwest Harris County where traffic corridors, apartment complexes and side streets converge near West Little York Road.
The charge turns the case from a fatal traffic wreck into a criminal matter focused on impairment and speed. Under Texas Penal Code Section 49.08, intoxication manslaughter generally applies when a person operates a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated and, by reason of that intoxication, causes another person’s death by accident or mistake. It is generally a second-degree felony.
For neighborhoods around Hollister and West Little York, the crash is another reminder of how quickly a late-night drive can turn deadly on roads that carry a mix of fast-moving traffic and residential access. The case also lands against the backdrop of another deadly year on Houston roads. Axios reported that 300 people died in traffic crashes on city roadways in 2025, even though fatalities fell from 2024.
Houston police identified the responding investigators as Vehicular Crimes Division Sgt. E. Alejandro and Officer J. Tran. The criminal case will now center on what led to the Tundra’s speed and whether impairment was a factor in the passenger’s death.
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