It has been more than a month and a half since a U.S. Army sergeant was accused of killing a couple in Texas, but he has finally been booked into jail and appeared before a judge.
U.S. Army Sgt. Juan Francisco Del Valle Ferrer, 23, was booked into the El Paso County Jail on November 30 in connection with a fatal car crash that resulted in the deaths of El Paso High School teacher Dalia Olivas, 28, and her fiancé, Rick Ballard, 29.
The delay in booking the Army sergeant, who is assigned to the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, was due to his receiving treatment at a hospital for injuries sustained during the crash.
According to a criminal complaint affidavit, Del Valle was speeding in a Honda HR-V around 11:40 p.m. on November 2 when he failed to stop at a red light at an intersection in El Paso. He crashed into the driver’s side of a black Mercedes CLE450 driven by Rick Ballard, who had the green light. The collision caused the Mercedes to spin out of control and crash into a traffic signal light pole.
The impact pinned Ballard’s right leg, severing it as he was ejected from the vehicle. He died at the scene of the crash. His fiancée, Olivas, was transported to Del Sol Medical Center, where she later succumbed to her injuries.
When officers arrived at the scene, they detected the odor of alcohol on Del Valle’s breath, the affidavit states. A Life Ambulance Emergency Medical Technician also reported smelling alcohol on his breath. When a deputy asked Del Valle how much he had to drink, he allegedly responded, “a lot,” before losing consciousness.
On Wednesday, Del Valle appeared in court at the Moreno County Courthouse in Downtown El Paso for his bond hearing. He was brought in from jail in a wheelchair and wearing a back brace, the El Paso Times reported.
During the hearing, his lawyer requested a bond reduction, citing Del Valle’s lack of prior criminal history and arguing that he posed no danger to the community or risk of flight. Del Valle is currently held in the El Paso County Jail on a bond totaling $520,000. His lawyer requested the bond be reduced to $25,000 for each of the two counts of intoxicated manslaughter. The lawyer also asked that Del Valle be allowed to move back to Puerto Rico with his parents if granted the reduced bond.
Del Valle is undergoing medical treatment for surgeries on his legs and back following the crash and is in the process of being dishonorably discharged from the Army. During the hearing, prosecutors revealed that Del Valle was driving at over 100 mph at the time of the crash and had a blood alcohol level of 0.102 six hours after the incident. The legal limit in Texas is 0.08.
The judge denied the request for a bond reduction, citing the severity of the crimes and the lack of community ties.
“The nature and circumstances of the offense for which I find in this particular case based on the police report and the presentation by the state is outrageous, extremely heinous, egregious, and severe,” the judge said. “The fact that once he’s out of the military, he does not have any ties to this community, and the alarming factor that was presented by defense counsel that his intention and his family’s intention was for him to go back to Puerto Rico during the pendency of this case, is quite frankly unconscionable.”
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