Titus County man jailed, charged in ATV death

LONGVIEW — A Titus County man was in jail Monday on $125,000 bond after his 7-year-old niece died from a fall off the four-wheeler he was driving Sunday afternoon, according to the Titus County Sheriff's Office.

Juan Trujillo Perez, 28, of Pittsburg is charged with manslaughter in the death of Alejandra Trujillo, who fell from a front basket on the all-terrain vehicle and was run over, authorities said.

Investigators said the ATV did not have working brakes, but they did not say whether that was a contributing cause to the accident.

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement also placed a federal detainer on the suspect as they investigated his residency status, said Miguel Larsen, a deputy chief with the Titus County Sheriff's Office. This means if Perez posts bond, he will still be held under federal authority pending the outcome of their investigation.

Perez was riding at least five other children, ranging from ages 3 to 12, and another adult on an ATV in a pasture near County Road 4370 when the accident happened, Larsen said.

Family members transported the girl to Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant, where she was pronounced dead at about 4:20 p.m. by a justice of the peace, who ordered an autopsy.

Larsen said investigators were awaiting results of Perez's blood alcohol test, after detecting alcohol during their investigation.

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Safety investigated another ATV fatality Sunday about 28 miles northeast of Mount Pleasant.

Four-year-old Gracie Williams died at the scene on County Road 1427 near Bogata after the four-wheeler she was riding left the road and hit a barbed wire fence, DPS officials said.

Camen Calvin, a 13-year-old girl, and Heather Williams, the 29-year-old driver, were listed in stable condition Monday at Titus County hospital.

The two weekend ATV deaths came about two weeks after Thomas Hicks, a 14-year-old Longview boy, was killed while riding a four-wheeler in Upshur County.