Family of A&M student killed by drunk driver awarded $69 million

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BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - The family of a Texas A&M student who was killed by a drunk driver in 2019 has been awarded $69 million in damages according to court documents.

On September 15, 2019, Texas A&M student Carly Beatty was walking on Texas Avenue with her friends. That’s where she was hit by Pedro Puga who was driving under the influence. Puga attempted to flee but was located in the Tejas Center parking lot where he was taken into custody.

Police discovered Puga had a blood alcohol level of .032 and tested positive for THC, cocaine metabolites, and etizolam.

They also found a handgun inside a backpack that Puga tossed into a bush when he attempted to flee. Beatty was rushed to St. Joseph Regional Health Hospital where she was stabilized by ER surgeons. She was transported to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston for surgery where she died a week later.

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Last year in February Puga was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to both manslaughter, accident involving death charges, and evading arrest.

Beatty was an animal science major at Texas A&M with the aspiration of becoming a vet. In her honor, her family created a nonprofit called Carly’s Way to continue her dream of helping animals in need.

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How does stuff like this work? He is in prison so not working. They could seize his assets probably a couple hundred bucks max

So basically the family will never get anything?

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So basically the family will never get anything?

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this, the Goldman family will probably get more than this family

The family will never recover anything monetarily unless the person being sued actually has assets. They can receive money from the insurance company if the driver had any

will go after his insurance for some of it

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So basically the family will never get anything?

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If the defendant is broke then they might just be stuck with the limits of whatever insurance policies are triggered.

This is why people really try and sue the bar, restaurant, club for overserving. They know its usually not the establishment's fault (unless we are talking about serving someone that is falling over drunk) but the establishment usually has the bigger pockets/bigger insurance payouts.

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.032 is literally one beer. I guess the combo of a benzo and cocaine did him in.

Unless that’s a typo and it meant to say 0.32

.032? Really?

I remember this. That was an awful and painful week for the girl and family. Amputated limbs I think. Multiple surgeries at both hospitals. She fought to live, but that punk did too much damage.

There was something in this guy’s record that made him appear to be one of Obama’s dreamers (or maybe it was parents illegal & using him being born here after they crossed illegally), but I can’t remember exactly what that was now. It was included in the discussion here back when all this took place.

The mom was on my tennis team for a few years. The dad is my dentist. They are good people.

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032 is literally one beer. I guess the combo of a benzo and cocaine did him in.
Unless that’s a typo and it meant to say 0.32

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Definitely combo of alcohol, pot, cocaine, and benzo. Just before someone was trying to report him as a drunk driver due to his driving.

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He fled the scene and it was later discovered he had a blood alcohol level of .032, tested positive for THC, cocaine metabolites and etizolam, a drug similar to Xanax.

At the time of the crash a caller was on the line with 911 to report a drunk driver he had been following northbound on Texas Avenue. The caller witnessed the crash and said when Puga hit the victim he did not slow or stop his vehicle. The caller stayed on the line with 911 and provided updates, enabling CSPD officers to locate Puga in the Tejas Center parking lot.

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