Deadly Hit and Run Claims Life of Los Fresnos Woman

Sugarland Spring Breaker Faces Upgraded Manslaughter Charges

South Padre Island, TX – On March 17, 2017, around 12:40 a.m., South Padre Island police received a call regarding an auto-pedestrian crash at the 4200 Block of Gulf Boulevard.

Emergency responders arrived on the scene to find three people on the street with serious injuries and two others suffering minor injuries. The suspect fled the scene before officers arrived, according to a news release from the City of South Padre Island, but it was reported that the vehicle was still on South Padre Island.

Investigators believed the suspect drove a black or dark-colored Honda CR-V or Pilot into the group, according to the news release. The pedestrians ranging from 16 to 22 years old were transported by EMS to local hospitals.

Fifteen hours later, and less than half a mile away from the scene of the accident, authorities arrested Daisy Joy Decker, 20, of Sugarland, Texas.

She was arraigned Sunday, March 19, with multiple counts of accident involving personal injury and a bond set at $130,000.

One of the victims, 19-year-old Maria Selena Patino of Los Fresnos, was on life support until later that Sunday when her family decided to remove her from life support.

Patino was a 2015 graduate of Los Fresnos High School and was currently attending Texas State Technical College in Harlingen.

On Monday, March 20, Decker’s charges were upgraded to manslaughter, a second-degree felony, and her bond raised to $180,000.

Patino’s family has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for medical and funeral expenses

At press time another victim of the hit-and-run, Secilia Leija, 20, remains hospitalized with serious injuries.

Police said another person was also taken into custody, but information about that person’s involvement has not been released.