Mystery surrounds Christmas Eve wreck

ALTON -- Gerardo Ramirez's family won't ask him who was responsible for the fatal wreck that killed two friends and barely spared his own life.

The Christmas Eve crash ejected the three men from their seats, and police have not been able to determine who was behind the wheel of a Nissan Altima when the car suddenly ran off McColl Road in McAllen.

Ramirez, 25, an Alton firefighter, came out of a coma last month, but severe damage to his brain stem has left him mentally disabled and unable to describe what happened that night.

Family members have refused to try asking Ramirez about the wreck because they are afraid any mental trauma will send him into another coma.

"We've never seen him like this," said Ramirez's brother, Gilbert. "We don't want to tell him what happened."

All three men appeared to have been drinking, family members said. Whoever was driving the car failed to control the vehicle's speed at about 2:39 that morning when it suddenly flipped over, killing Alton firefighter Arturo Villarreal, 26, and Jose Rolando Hernandez, 34, of Progreso.

Gilbert Ramirez said the men were likely driving from a bar inside Don Pepe's restaurant located at 306 McColl Rd. in McAllen, where Ramirez worked part-time as a bartender.

But McAllen officials have not yet received an autopsy report confirming that the men were drinking. The department has not even been able to complete an accident report because investigators have been waiting for Ramirez to regain consciousness and provide information about the wreck.

Because Ramirez does not appear to be capable of providing a statement, the department may have to complete its report early this week without his information, said McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez.

Meanwhile, Ramirez's family is struggling to pay for his care - the young firefighter lacked worker's benefits at both part-time jobs.

"We have to keep him home because the hospital released him," Gilbert Ramirez said. "He needs therapy, and his feeding tube is hard to take care of. ...It's gonna be a lot."

Gilbert Ramirez said the vehicle likely belonged to Hernandez. He said the men seemed to be trying to help someone who had car problems that night.

But Alton fire Chief Elias Saldivar thought his two employees were making last-minute holiday purchases that morning, just hours after Villarreal asked his boss to take the night off.

Though friends and family have different theories about what may have happened that night, no one will know the truth until Ramirez regains full consciousness, something the family eagerly awaits for each passing day.

"The doctors say he'll get better," Gilbert Ramirez said. "He's disabled, but he's starting to recognize us."

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Ana Lye covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4428.