Death toll rises in Edinburg crash that killed three family members

A 10-year-old Edinburg girl who was injured in a July 24 drunk driving crash that killed three of her family members has succumbed to her injuries.

Shailey Rachel Martinez died at 1:00 a.m. July 28, according to a press release issued by the Edinburg Police Department.

Three of her family members were killed at the scene of the accident, including 50-year-old Luz Aurora Casado, 68-year-old Maria Guadalupe Zavala Casado, and her granddaughter, 2-year-old San Juan resident Ellieana Santoy.

Martinez was Luz Aurora Casado’s niece.

Police identified the suspected drunken driver as 46-year-old Shen Li Jiang of Edinburg, who remained in critical condition at the time of this writing. Jiang had been facing three counts of intoxication manslaughter, but is likely facing a fourth count should he recover from his injuries.

Amending a personal injury complaint

Plaintiffs in personal injury cases want to ensure they have all the facts to prove the causes of actions that they want the defendant to be found liable for. However, if the plaintiff discovers new facts after filing the complaint, the plaintiff may be allowed to amend the complaint in order to prevent the cause of action from being dismissed.

Generally, a court may, in furtherance of justice, allow a party in a lawsuit to amend any pleading or proceeding. It is judicial policy to resolve all disputes between the parties on their merits. This is why a court may allow amendment of the pleadings to put all such disputes at issue at the time of trial.

To amend a complaint, a plaintiff may need to make a motion to permit an amendment to a pleading. A motion usually involves a court hearing so that each side may have due process on to argue whether or not the court should let the plaintiff go forth with the amendment. For the defendant, there may be some prejudice or inconvenience involved when a complaint is amended. For the plaintiff, if a plaintiff is not allowed to amend a complaint, the plaintiff may not be able to properly present a case.

An amended complaint relates back to the filing of the original complaint so long as both pleadings (1) rest on the same general set of facts, (2) involve the same injury, and (3) refer to the same instrumentality. This means the defendant may not defend based on a statute of limitations expiring.

Contact J. Gonzalez

If a plaintiff leaves something out of an amended complaint, he/she cannot go back and add it unless the defendant agrees to or the court permits the plaintiff to file a second amended complaint. Also, if the plaintiff leaves something out and the case reaches the trial stage, the plaintiff cannot ask for something that wasn’t in the complaint at the trial. It must be in the amended complaint or the original complaint if the plaintiff never amended the original complaint.

It is best to leave these tasks in the hands of an experienced Texas personal injury lawyer who can properly write and file your amendment/s. The personal injury attorneys at the J. Gonzalez Law Firm are experts in complex cases and are ready to represent you. Call today for a free consultation at 1-800- CAR-CRASH.

Source: https://myrgv.com/local-news/2023/07/28/10-year-old-girl-hospitalized-in-edinburg-crash-dies/