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Louis Torres -
Sheena Yarbrough-Powell
Following a guilty verdict of “intoxication manslaughter causing the death of a peace officer,” Luis Torres’ attorney presented the presiding Criminal District Court Criminal District Court Judge John Stevens with paperwork that cements the now-convicted felon’s right to appeal.
The charge stems from an August 2020 crash caused by Torres drunkenly driving his Mustang the wrong way down Cardinal Drive and crashing into a Beaumont police patrol vehicle occupied by BPD officers Gabriel Fells and Sheena Yarbrough-Powell.
Yarbrough-Powell, and the rescue kitten she picked up on the late-night shift she was working, were both killed in the collision. Fells suffered extensive injuries.
“I don’t remember how many broken ribs,” were incurred, Fells said from the witness stand during Torres’ prosecution. The agony of his injuries and the state of his partner’s wellbeing filled his mind as he held on the phone with emergency responders, evidenced by the several excruciating minutes of footage presented the first day of Torres’ trial. After the crash, “is fuzzy,” he further explained.
What isn’t fuzzy is the feeling of remorse Fells says still takes a toll on his everyday life.
“It’s hard to sleep,” he said.
Following days of testimony, and hours of evidence presentation that showed the gruesome aftermath of Torres’ actions that evening, jurors took roughly an hour to return a guilty verdict. During the trial, it was revealed that Torres not only drank alcohol – tequila – served to him at the former Tequila’s restaurant in Port Arthur, but he also purchased more booze from a convenience store and hit up not one – but two – parties that served him alcohol before getting in the car his father bought him and driving the wrong way up the interstate. Evidence in the trial also revealed that Torres didn’t even have a driver’s license at the time of the crash.
Jurors sentenced Torres to serve 20 years in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison, the now 20-year-old being required to serve at least half of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Torres was facing between 5 – 99 years, or life, in prison, and any prison sentence under 10 years could’ve been probated due to this being Torres’ first felony. On the table was also a fine of up to $10,000.
“If I could switch places with her, I would,” Torres said before his sentencing. “I tell myself every day; ‘It should have been you, not her.’”
“Everything has a consequence,” prosecutor Pat Knauth reminded jurors before they began deliberations pondering Torres’ guilt. “There are no winners here.”