By Eva Ruth Moravec, emoravec@express-news.net
Pedestrian fatally struck downtown is identified
Frio County crash kills S.A. woman
A San Antonio woman was killed and a family from Eagle Pass was injured Monday evening in a head-on crash in Frio County, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Nicole Barber, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which took place on U.S. 57 around 6:35 p.m. Monday, a DPS communications operator said.
She was driving north and overcorrected when her car drifted into the right lane.
The car skidded into oncoming traffic, colliding with an SUV, the agency reported.
All five people in the SUV were injured and flown to University Hospital, some with life-threatening injuries.
Juan Escalante, 43, its driver, was listed in poor condition with internal injuries, officials said. Samantha Escalante, 9, suffered facial, head and hip injuries, according to the DPS, and was in critical condition.
Beatrice Escalante, 30, Juan Escalante Jr., 17, and Tony Escalante, 4, were all listed in fair condition.
Pedestrian killed Monday identified
Officials have released the name of a pedestrian fatally struck by a vehicle on a downtown highway early Monday.
Richard Rodriguez, 41, died of traumatic blunt force injuries after he was hit by a compact SUV around 5:45 a.m. Monday, according to San Antonio police and the Bexar County medical examiner's office.
Police said the driver, Humberto Quintanar, 43, was on Interstate 10 West near César Chávez Boulevard, where the highway is also Interstate 35, when he started to cough and looked down.
Upon looking up, he saw a blur in front of him before his vehicle struck Rodriguez, a police report states. Rodriguez was pronounced dead at the scene.
Quintanar, who was reportedly driving to work, stopped at the scene and was not expected to face criminal charges.
It was unclear why Rodriguez was walking on the interstate.
Couple plead not guilty in fraud
A San Antonio couple pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that they helped out in a mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in $50 million in losses to lenders.
Dianne R. Joaquin and her husband, Kenneth W. Joaquin, were indicted Dec. 7 on charges of bank fraud, engaging in money laundering and conspiracy.
Both were released on unsecured bonds Tuesday after a court hearing.
They are accused of aiding a mortgage scam by Ledale Lashette Coles, 37, who ran one of several mortgage firms used in a scheme blamed primarily on Robert Brooks of Dallas. Dianne Joaquin worked for Coles, who awaits sentencing for money laundering.
Brooks is among 22 people indicted in San Antonio in June 2010 on charges of conspiracy in a flipping scheme that caused $50 million in loans to go into default.
Records state that Coles helped with more than $1 million in fraudulent loans, and the Joaquins are alleged to have aided Coles in obtaining about half of that.
Closures are set at 1604, U.S. 281
The right lane of westbound Loop 1604 and the left lane of the westbound access road between Gold Canyon Road and the U.S. 281 exit ramp will be closed nightly until Jan. 7.
The turnaround from westbound to eastbound Loop 1604 at U.S. 281 also will remain closed all day until Tuesday.
The closures are part of ongoing construction of an interchange between Loop 1604 and U.S. 281, a $130 million project that began last March and is expected to last until summer 2013.
The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority is overseeing the project.
The lanes will be closed every night between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., while crews begin to place concrete beams that will connect U.S. 281 North to Loop 1604 East.
Motorists who use the U.S. 281 exit ramp should take the Gold Canyon exit during the closures.
Drivers who use the turnaround will instead travel through the traffic light at the intersection of Loop 1604 and U.S. 281.
Man held in Pharr woman's stabbing
PHARR — A man detained as he wanted to cross a bridge into Mexico is charged in the stabbing death of a 47-year-old woman found by firefighters responding last week to a blaze at her apartment in Pharr.
A judge Monday set bail at $2 million for Carlos Reyes, 30, of Pharr. He's charged in the slaying of Carolina Zamarripa.
Firefighters last Thursday found her dead of a stab wound and food burning on her stove.
Authorities say Reyes was caught at the international bridge in Hidalgo.
The Monitor newspaper in McAllen says police aren't disclosing a motive for the killing and won't say if Reyes had any kind of relationship with the victim.
Laredo couple dead after mystery fire
LAREDO — The deaths of a couple found Christmas Day at their Laredo home have authorities puzzled.
A fire at the home never prompted a 911 call from the occupants or neighbors.
Fire Capt. Eloy Vega told the Laredo Morning Times that when authorities showed up Sunday night after getting a call about a dead person in the house, the fire already was out.
He says a relative of the victims, identified only as a couple in their 50s, went to the home after calls there weren't answered and reported finding a body. Police then discovered there were two.
Eloy says investigators are trying to find a cause for the blaze. Neighbors say the woman who lived in the home used a wheelchair.
From staff and wire reports