FORT WORTH, Texas | The latest in the case of a Texas teenager serving probation for killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck after invoking an “affluenza” defense (all times local):
11 a.m.
A Texas sheriff says that a woman and her son drove a pickup truck to Mexico as they fled his probation for killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck. He was known for invoking an “affluenza” defense.
Eighteen-year-old Ethan Couch and his mother, Tonya Couch, were located and detained Monday in the Pacific Coast resort city of Puerto Vallarta. Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said Tuesday that the pair had planned to disappear and had something like a going-away party before they left town.
A prosecutor says that during a hearing next month they plan to ask a judge to transfer Ethan Couch’s case to adult court.
10:45 a.m.
A Mexican official says a Texas teenager on probation for killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck and invoking an “affluenza” defense who was found in Mexico along with his mother will be returned to the United States on Tuesday.
Ricardo Ariel Vera, the representative of Mexico’s immigration institute in the western state of Jalisco, said the mother and son were being held at immigration offices in the state capital, Guadalajara, and would be returned to the United States aboard a commercial flight to Houston sometime Tuesday.
During the sentencing phase of Couch’s trial, a defense expert argued that Couch’s wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility — a condition the expert termed “affluenza.” The condition is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association.
10 a.m.
A Texas sheriff says an arrest warrant will be issued for mother of a teenager found in Mexico after fleeing probation after killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck and invoking an “affluenza” defense.
Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said Tuesday at a news conference that the warrant would be issued for Tonya Couch on charges of hindering an apprehension.
Mexico’s Jalisco state prosecutors’ office said 18-year-old Ethan Couch and his mother were located and detained Monday evening in the Pacific Coast resort city of Puerto Vallarta.
Anderson said it appears the two planned their disappearance and even held something of a going-away party.
Anderson said the U.S. Marshals Service was working to get the two returned to the United States.
(This item has been corrected to reflect the proper spelling of the mother’s last name)
2 a.m.
Authorities say a Texas teenager serving probation for killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck after invoking an “affluenza” defense is in custody in Mexico, weeks after he and his mother disappeared.
Mexico’s Jalisco state prosecutors’ office said 18-year-old Ethan Couch and his mother, Tonya Couch, were located and detained Monday evening in the Pacific Coast resort city of Puerto Vallarta.
After their detention, they were handed over to Mexican immigration authorities for deportation, the office said.
During the sentencing phase of Couch’s trial, a defense expert argued that Couch’s wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility — a condition the expert termed “affluenza.”
The condition is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association, and its invocation drew widespread ridicule.