HUFFMAN, Texas — Bond was lowered for a man who is charged with murder in connection with his son's death in a rollover crash last weekend.
On Tuesday, Emanuel Camacho-Patino, 34, stood in front of the judge wearing an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs. He was accompanied by a Spanish-speaking translator. He's charged with felony murder. His bond was initially set at $1 million, but during the hearing, it was lowered to $100,000.
The judge said she was lowering his bond based on information presented in the case so far, his lack of criminal history and his ties to the community.
Prosecutors said the evidence in the case provided the path to charge him with such a serious crime.
"When someone is committing a felony and then causes a death of someone else, you can charge that as felony murder, and that's exactly what we did here," Harris County Assistant District Attorney Erandy Marquez said.
Who is Camacho-Patino?
KHOU 11 News learned that Camacho-Patino has been living in the Houston area for more than 17 years and provides for his wife and children working as a machine operator.
Camacho-Patino had five children until the death of Manuel Camacho Nolasco on Saturday night in Huffman.
The crash
According to authorities, Camacho-Patino lost control of his truck and flipped into a ditch. They said a tread cap came off a back tire and caused a blowout. Manuel was in the passenger seat and officials said he wasn't wearing a seatbelt. He died at the scene.
Investigators accused Camacho-Patino of being drunk at the time of the crash, but his defense attorney said she thinks it could have just been a tragic accident.
Prosecutors said Camacho-Patino admitted to drinking two, 12-ounce beers before the crash. They also said he smelled like alcohol and had bloodshot eyes.
They said he took a trio of field sobriety tests. They said he failed the vision test, got 50% on the walk-and-turn test and passed the one-leg stand test.
It was also revealed in court that a breath test wasn't given but a blood test was taken, which prosecutors said is common in felony cases.
"It's a safer way to do so. It's also more reliable with the blood, so we automatically go for a search warrant and obtain their blood," Marquez said.
Concerns about the case
During Tuesday's hearing, the judge expressed concerns about the evidence in the case.
"The judge did seem concerned about the lower-end clues, however, it's not just a pass-fail test, it's not just one test, it's a totality of the circumstances, and ultimately, when all the other signs of intoxication -- glassy red shot eyes, odor of alcohol and the type of crash that occurred -- the officer determined that he was intoxicated," Marquez said.
The judge seemed concerned about the blood test and how long it would take to get back results.
"Right now, our laboratories are a bit backlogged with all the cases that we have, so it could take a couple months," Marquez said.
In addition to lowering his bond, the judge also put a number of conditions in place in the case that he posts it and is released. Camacho-Patino wouldn't be able to drive and would also have to wear a device that detects alcohol. She also warned him that there's a zero-tolerance policy in place if he breaks the conditions.
At the crash site, a roadside memorial continued to grow for Manuel. A GoFundMe account was set up to help the family with expenses.