Woman charged in fatal North Texas crash had high blood alcohol content, Trulys

A Dallas woman charged with two felonies after a fatal crash in Grand Prairie earlier this month said she had been drinking the night before and tested for a blood-alcohol concentration over the legal driving limit, court records show.

Clesiz Leiva, 24, is facing one count of intoxication manslaughter and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Grand Prairie police previously said.

Leiva was driving a black Dodge Ram on March 17 that entered the wrong lane and collided with a black Jeep Patriot carrying two people in the 2300 block of South Belt Line Road, according to an arrest warrant affidavit for Leiva.

Police and fire personnel responded about 7:20 a.m. and found Carlos Alberto Arias-Vera — who was driving the Jeep — injured in the vehicle. He was pronounced dead by fire department medics, the affidavit says.

“Officers located several Truly alcoholic beverages (unopened) inside of the Dodge, along with smelling the odor of alcoholic beverage emitting from the Suspect vehicle,” the affidavit says.

Leiva and the passenger in the Jeep were taken to Medical City Arlington for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries. Officers believe Leiva’s 2019 Dodge was driving south and entered the northbound lane, smashing the front driver side of each vehicle together.

Roads were wet from morning rain, an officer noted in the affidavit. At the hospital, investigators interviewed Leiva about the rollover wreck.

“She only remembers that she ... honked her horn just prior to the crash. She does not recall how the crash happened, only that she woke up and her truck was upside down and her truck was smoking,” the affidavit says.

Leiva told investigators she was driving back to her Dallas home after spending the night at a friend’s residence in northern Grand Prairie. Leiva said she drank alcohol until about 10 p.m. then slept for “7-8 hours” before leaving, the affidavit says.

A Grand Prairie detective also interviewed the injured Jeep passenger, who said she was traveling to Irving with her boyfriend when the crash happened. They were leaving his residence in Arlington to head to work, she said.

The detective learned the hospital did a blood test to determine Leiva’s blood-alcohol concentration, the affidavit says. After getting a search warrant from a judge, the detective obtained the results and sent them to a Dallas County district attorney investigator. Leiva’s blood alcohol content just after 8 a.m. was determined to be 0.098, over the legal driving limit of 0.08, the affidavit says. She consented to further blood testing and was later taken to the Grand Prairie jail.

Leiva is being held at the Dallas County jail, according to online records, but she is not allowed bond because of an immigration hold. Online Dallas County court records were not immediately available to confirm if she had an attorney.