Judge denies bond reduction for teen accused in fatal BPD crash

Exactly one year after allegedly causing the head-on collision that killed a 23-year-old Beaumont Police Department (BPD) officer, a Port Arthur teen heard a judge deny a motion to reduce his $750,000 bond in an Aug. 9 hearing.

Reported to have a blood alcohol concentration more than three times the legal limit at .28%, Luis Fernando Torres, 19, appeared via Zoom before Judge John Stevens Monday, Aug. 9 for intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault charges. Torres allegedly drove his Mustang the wrong way northbound on Cardinal Drive and crashed into a BPD patrol car traveling the other way around 2:30 a.m. Aug. 9, 2020, killing an officer in the process.

Around 11 a.m. Monday morning, Torres’ defense attorney Tom Burbank asked Judge Stevens to lower Torres’ bonds to a more affordable level. Stevens denied the request after a few minutes of debate from the defense and prosecution.

Additionally, Burbank asked the judge to consider allowing a mental health expert to evaluate Torres, who is reportedly suffering from depression during his stint behind bars. Citing two relevant Supreme Court cases on the matter, Stevens said he wasn’t satisfied with the argument presented on paper, that mere mental anguish caused by confinement wasn’t a sufficient cause for the cost Burbank proposed. However, Stevens said he could grant the motion at a later hearing if he’s given more substantial evidence of its necessity.

One officer was injured in the head-on collision, BPD Chief Jimmy Singletary told reporters at a press conference hours after the crash. BPD Officer Sheena Yarbrough-Powell, a recent police academy graduate and newlywed, died in the crash.