HOUSTON -- TABC investigators are looking into the crash in Clear Lake last week that left a mother and her baby dead.
Veronica Rivas, 20, was arrested after the crash and charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter. Prosecutors said her blood alcohol level was .21, nearly three times over the legal limit.
Rivas told police she'd been at an unnamed "establishment" before the crash.
Now investigators want to know if she was served alcohol as a minor there and how much.
Houston Police say Rivas was speeding in her SUV around 3:30 a.m. on Feb. 28 when she hit the back of a maroon Scion. It happened on the southbound feeder of the Gulf Freeway near El Dorado.
Shayla Joseph and 3-month-old Braylan Joseph were pronounced dead at the scene.
Rivas and a 17-year-old female passenger had broken bones and were transported to a hospital.
According to investigators, Rivas showed signs of intoxication and was taken to jail following her release from the hospital.
Rivas was released on a $60,000 bond Thursday night. She broke down in tears Friday as the judge set the following bond conditions:
- Rivas can't leave home
- She must wear a GPS ankle monitor
- She must get a SCRAM device that shows if you've been drinking or not
KHOU 11 News went to Rivas’ home in Bacliff but nobody answered the door. We spoke with a family member of the 17-year-old passenger who was riding with Rivas at the time of the crash. She tells us the teen is expected to be OK.
Prosecutors say the teen is a witness.
“If evidence is presented and we obtain evidence, that they were serving an underage person, especially to the point of intoxication, we will seek recourse,” said Harris County prosecutor Sean Teare
The establishment could face fines and lose its license, according to Chris Porter with TABC. Any employees who served minors could also face charges.
"This is just an unspeakable tragedy, it really is,” Teare said. “And one of the worst parts about it, is it’s totally preventable. Any number of ways it could have stopped before it ended in this.”
If convicted, Rivas could face up to two to 20 years in prison.