Harris County, TX — July 22, 2024, Jarrod Brown-Avery II was killed and Autrell Baltrip and Denard Watson were injured in an alleged intoxicated driver accident.
Preliminary details about the accident from Harris County officials say that the accident happened at around 10:23 p.m. along southbound lanes of the 13900 block of the Eastex Freeway.
According to initial details, Jarrod Brown-Avery II, Autrell Baltrip, and Denard Watson were along the side of the interstate outside of two stationary vehicles, one of which was disabled. While they were there, authorities allege that a suspected intoxicated driver in a Dodge Ram crashed into the vehicles, hitting all three pedestrians. Due to the accident, Brown-Avery was killed. Baltrip and Watson were taken to an area hospital with injuries. The alleged intoxicated driver also had injuries.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
Right now, it’s unclear if any charges are pending. If it’s found that the driver was indeed intoxicated, it wouldn’t be surprising to see charges pretty soon. However, that’s may be only part of the larger story. Investigations often show that accidents like this happen in part due to a local alcohol provider illegally over-serving the intoxicated driver. They, too, would need to be held accountable.
That may sound unusual, but I’ve handled hundreds of cases against negligent alcohol providers. Put simply, if a bar or similar establishment over-serves someone who is obviously intoxicated, they expose themselves to possible criminal investigations, fines, license suspensions, or liability if people get hurt or killed. Not only does this ensure a wrongdoer answers for their actions, it provides victims and families harmed by those establishments to see them clean up their act before more people get hurt.
Unfortunately, many of the cases I’ve handled over the years were without any kind of cooperation from authorities. Too often, police will charge intoxicated drivers, then move on without considering any potentially complicit alcohol providers. While Harris County in general is better about seeking out negligent alcohol providers, they also let things slip through the cracks. If alcohol was a factor here, I would hope to see them motivated to get the victims and families here the full story rather than the bare minimum.
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