Basic Facts
Crash date: February 23, 2026
Crash location: intersection of 2nd Street and O’Connor Road in Irving, TX
People involved:
- Howard J. Dailey Jr., 65
- Unidentified Mitsubishi driver, 78
- Karen Paredes, 24
- Unidentified Dodge driver, 17
- Unidentified passengers
Do authorities suspect alcohol played a role in this crash? Yes
Did authorities recommend criminal charges? Yes
Do authorities suspect a product defect caused the crash? Unknown
Accident Report
Irving, TX — February 23, 2026, Howard Dailey Jr. was killed and Karen Paredes and another person were injured in an alleged drunk driver accident at about 1:15 p.m. in the 300 block of West 2nd Street.
A preliminary accident report indicates that a 2011 Dodge Charger was heading south on South O’Connor Road when it allegedly ran a red light and collided with a 2018 Chevrolet C1500 and a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander that were heading east on 2nd Street.
Mitsubishi driver Howard J. Dailey Jr., 65, died from injuries suffered in the crash, according to the report, while his passenger, a 78-year-old woman whose name has not been made public yet, and Chevrolet driver Karen Paredes, 24, were seriously injured.
The 17-year-old driver of the Dodge was charged with intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault after the crash, the report states. He and three other teens in the car suffered minor injuries, while the report did not include injury information on two other passengers.
Authorities have not released any additional information about the Dallas County crash at this time.
How Did This Accident Occur?
It’s been my experience that when people see one party in a crash is facing criminal charges, they tend to assume that the matter is open and shut. I’d caution against that.
What if the police got it wrong? It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it completely changes the remedies available to the victim.
Let’s suppose the police did get this one right, and the driver who caused the crash was intoxicated. That still isn’t the end of the matter. It raises the question, where was the alleged intoxicated driver drinking prior to the crash? Are authorities looking into that? Particularly when a minor is involved, it means that someone else might share responsibility for what happened.
I bring all this up not to live up to stereotypes about lawyers complicating seemingly straight-forward situations, but because I’ve seen thousands of crashes in my career, and have learned that jumping the gun before the authorities complete their investigation, or before any outside investigators report their conclusions is a recipe for missing crucial details. If you think this is the wrong approach, that’s what the comment section is for.
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