A 28-year-old father in Texas is accused of running over and killing the mother of his 1-year-old child on purpose. He will still be able to care for the child while he waits for his trial for her death.
Law&Crime looked at court records and found that the victim’s mother tried to terminate Ulise DeLao’s parental rights on Monday, but the judge said no.
DeLao is currently free on bond after being charged with manslaughter in the death of Brittney A. Torres earlier this year.
It is the goal of the civil case to take away DeLao’s parental rights and make Torres’ mother, Jaqueline Sanchez, the legal guardian of the child.
A news release from the Canyon, Texas, Police Department says that around 1:05 a.m. on May 27, 2024, officers were called to the 1900 block of 10th Avenue for a report of a car accident involving a pedestrian. You can find the crash site about 380 miles northwest of Dallas, Texas.
“After looking into it, officers learned that Brittany Torres, 27, was hit by Ulise DeLao, 28, while she was standing outside the car,” police wrote in the release. “The police said Torres was dead at the scene.”
At first, DeLao was arrested and charged with manslaughter while drunk. After that, a grand jury charged him with one count of manslaughter.
A report from KVII, an ABC and CW affiliate in Amarillo, Texas, said that security footage shown in court earlier this year showed DeLao physically pulling Torres out of a pickup truck twice.
DeLao is said to have killed Torres by running her over in front of the house they shared later that night.
When asked by police in May, the report says, DeLao admitted to running over Torres.
While Ulise was charged with first-degree murder in June, DeLao was not indicted for that charge by a grand jury in August, according to records. In October, he was freed from jail after a judge lowered his bond from $500,000 to $250,000.
KVII reported that DeLao’s bond terms include wearing a GPS tracking device, staying in the surrounding counties after 8 p.m., giving up his passport, having an ignition interlock device on his car, and not having or using a gun or drugs or alcohol.
It was not clear right away when DeLao was supposed to go back to court.
Alysia B. Cordova, the lawyer who was supposed to be representing Torres’ mother in the civil case, did not respond right away to a message from Law&Crime asking for more information about the case.
