At around 8:00 p.m. on December 16, 2023, a 31-year-old man named Nestor Flores was driving down a highway just outside of Dallas, Texas. With both hands tightly gripping the steering wheel, Nestor was tense. He was eager to get home, anxious about the possibility of being pulled over by the police. Although this was a route he had driven many times, it was also heavily patrolled by state troopers. Nestor had enjoyed a few drinks with friends earlier that evening, and although he didn’t feel impaired, the thought of being stopped by the police terrified him. His past minor run-ins with the law, combined with the fact that he was not born in the U.S., heightened his fear of deportation.
Nestor did everything he could to avoid drawing attention to himself on the road. As he reached for his Diet Coke in the console, he kept his eyes on the road, but as he took a sip, the can hit something, spilling soda on his hand. Instinctively, he looked down at the drink, and when he looked back up, a deer appeared in front of his car. With no time to swerve, Nestor hit the deer head-on, smashing his windshield and sending the animal flipping over the back of his car.
Miraculously, Nestor maintained control of the car and gradually slowed down, pulling off to the side of the road. Shaken, he looked over his shoulder, expecting to see the deer lying on the road, but it was gone. The highway was peaceful, and Nestor, although rattled, seemed physically okay. His car, however, was damaged, with a caved-in windshield and a smashed front. Still, Nestor decided to continue driving, thinking there was little else he could do in the dark.
But after driving 38 more miles, Nestor’s car began to rattle ominously, and smoke started billowing from the engine. He knew he had to stop or risk being pulled over. Annoyed, as he was close to home, Nestor pulled into a fast-food restaurant’s parking lot. He turned off the car and waited, hoping it would fix itself, but the smoke continued, and the car wouldn’t start again. To make matters worse, his phone was dead, and he didn’t have a charger. Nestor decided to go into the restaurant and ask for a charger.
As Nestor approached the counter and asked the employee if they had a charger, he was met with a strange reaction. The employee stared at him, pale and wide-eyed, unable to speak. Frustrated, Nestor asked again, but the employee just shook their head, still staring in shock. Furious and exhausted, Nestor left the restaurant and returned to his car, searching for a charger.
Feeling suddenly drowsy, Nestor leaned forward in his seat and fell asleep. Over two hours later, he was awakened by a tapping on his window. Groggily, he looked up to see a police officer shining a flashlight into his car, gesturing for him to roll down the window. Nestor complied, but before he could explain, the officer ordered him out of the car and demanded to know what had happened.
Nestor began recounting the story of hitting the deer, nervously wondering if he was in trouble for not reporting it. But before he could finish, the officer cut him off, shining the flashlight into the car. Then, the officer immediately called for backup, leaving Nestor confused and terrified. When Nestor turned to see what the officer was looking at, he froze and began to scream.
The horrifying truth was that Nestor had not hit a deer. He had hit a 45-year-old pedestrian named Terry Ivory. Terry’s body had gone through the windshield and landed in the passenger seat, where it remained as Nestor drove 40 miles without realizing it. The employee at the restaurant was shocked not by Nestor’s request, but by the fact that Nestor was covered in Terry’s blood. Despite being completely unaware, Nestor had spent hours driving with a dead man beside him.
Nestor was charged with collision involving death in December 2023, and as of now, his case remains unresolved. This tragic story serves as a haunting reminder of the devastating consequences of impaired driving.