A drunken teenager crashes into a wall and kills a passenger

stepA teenager is behind bars after police said he was drunk and crashed into a rock wall, killing his front-seat passenger Saturday, Jan. 27, in the Lower Valley.

Nathan Rudy R., 18, is charged with intoxication manslaughter in the death of 19-year-old Jesus Manuel Saniceros.

According to court documents, the accident happened at 2:40 a.m. at the intersection of Marne Drive and Carlotta Drive.

Police say Nathan Rudy R. Ceniceros was driving a 2012 Honda Civic southbound on Carlotta at a high rate of speed and crashed into a rock wall, catching fire and killing him.

Police asked Nathan Rudy R. where he was coming from and he said he was coming from a friend’s house and had asked Ceniceros to drive his car because Ceniceros said it was “driveable” and that it was a little It was within minutes. Minutes away from Nathan Rudy R’s home.

However, witnesses identified Nathan Rudy R. as the driver of the vehicle. and identified Ceniceros as the passenger. Nathan Rudy R. reportedly had bruises and redness on his chest and collarbone, indicating he was wearing a seat belt in the driver’s seat position.

A friend of the couple allegedly told police they had been drinking and Nathan Rudy R. had left the house, but the friend was concerned that Nathan Rudy R. The car was too drunk to drive and they followed him.

They saw Nathan Rudy R. hit a rock wall and when the friend went to check on them, they found the Ceniceros partially under the dashboard and Nathan Rudy R. was still in the driver’s seat.

The friend called 911 as soon as the car caught fire. He then took Ceniceros out of the car to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), according to court documents.

The friend reportedly told police that while attempting to perform CPR on Ceniceros, Nathan Rudy R. Dropped the 911 call and was forced to disconnect the phone and dial 911 again for instructions on how to perform CPR.

Officials conducted a field sobriety test and reported that Nathan Rudy R. failed. After being transported to the Mission Valley Regional Command Center, Nathan Rudy R. submitted to a breathalyzer test that yielded results of 0.17 and 0.15, according to court documents.

Nathan Rudy R. was booked into the El Paso County Detention Center on $150,000 bail. Ceniceros would have turned 20 on Tuesday, Jan. 30, according to court documents.

There is currently a GoFundMe to cover Ceniceros’ funeral expenses, managed by his mother.

Police say speed and alcohol were major contributing factors in the incident.

This is the fifth death this year, compared to eight in 2023.