A drunk driver with a blood alcohol level more than triple the legal limit is facing serious charges after running a red light and causing a fatal crash in Dallas that killed one person and left two others with severe injuries.
Joel Avalos, 31, has been charged with intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury following the devastating collision that occurred Monday evening on Singleton Boulevard in Dallas, authorities confirmed.
The crash, which took place at the intersection of Singleton Boulevard and N. Hampton Road on February 1, 2026, claimed the life of a 33-year-old man and left two other victims with serious injuries ranging from broken bones to traumatic brain injuries, according to police documents.
Extreme Intoxication and Contradictory Claims
Investigators found Avalos had a blood alcohol content of .26 — more than three times the legal limit of .08. What’s more troubling? The suspect gave conflicting accounts about his drinking that night, initially denying alcohol consumption when speaking to police officers but later admitting to hospital staff that he had been drinking, the arrest affidavit reveals.
Avalos attempted to deflect blame for the crash, telling authorities, “I was driving, and the car crashed into me. I was coming from my friend’s house by Kiest Park and headed home.” But multiple witnesses told a different story, reporting that Avalos’ pickup truck ran a red light before colliding with the victims’ sedan.
Eyewitness Devon Mobley described Avalos’ condition at the scene in stark terms. “He was so off his rocks it was wild. He couldn’t keep eye contact though his eyes kept rolling. That’s how drunk he was,” Mobley stated.
Devastating Impact
The collision caused catastrophic damage to the sedan. Emergency responders arrived to find multiple victims trapped underneath the vehicles, requiring the use of the jaws of life to cut through the driver’s side of the sedan to extract them, police indicated.
Adding to the list of poor decisions that night, investigators noted that Avalos wasn’t wearing a seat belt during the crash — a detail included in court filings.
The incident marks another tragic reminder of the devastating consequences of drunk driving in Dallas County, where alcohol-related crashes continue to claim lives despite years of public awareness campaigns and increasingly severe penalties for offenders.
As Avalos faces the serious charges that could lead to decades behind bars, three families are left to deal with the aftermath of split-second decisions that forever altered their lives on what began as an ordinary Monday evening in Dallas.
