CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Alex Rodriguez, who previously served prison time after his infant son died in a hot car, has accepted a plea agreement in connection with the death of a passenger during a 2024 drunk driving crash.
Alex Rodriguez, 31, accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle in connection with the March 8, 2024, death of 34-year-old Evelyn Perez. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
According to a Corpus Christi Police Department report, Rodriguez was driving his 2008 Cadillac STS at a high rate of speed on Baldwin Boulevard near Agnes Street when he hit railroad tracks, sending the vehicle airborne. When the car returned to the roadway, Rodriguez lost control and struck a light pole.
Perez, who was a passenger in the vehicle, died as a result of the crash. Rodriguez was seriously injured and transported to a local hospital.
Because Rodriguez was hospitalized following the crash, investigators had to wait for toxicology results before moving forward with an arrest.
"We had to wait for the toxicology results to come back before we could arrest and charge him," said Senior Officer Travis Pace with the Corpus Christi Police Department.
The victim's mother, Martina Leonor Perez, has hired the Thomas J. Henry law firm and filed a civil lawsuit against both Rodriguez and the Party Place Cabaret, located at 4800 Leopard Street.
The lawsuit alleges Rodriguez was at the Party Place Cabaret before the crash, where he was allegedly overserved alcoholic beverages. Court documents state the damages sought exceed $250,000, which would cover the pain and mental anguish Evelyn Perez suffered before her death, along with medical expenses and funeral and burial costs.
Those results confirmed that Rodriguez was intoxicated at the time of the crash. Police obtained a warrant and arrested Rodriguez approximately 15 months later on the 2600 block of Johanna Street.
A Devastating History
The intoxication manslaughter charge is not the first time Rodriguez has faced consequences tied to the death of another person.
In 2015, Rodriguez — then 23 years old — left his two young children locked inside a hot car for more than four hours at his home on the 2600 block of Presa Street. His 4-month-old son, Alex Rodriguez Jr., died at a hospital. His then 16-month-old daughter survived. Rodriguez tested positive for cocaine following that incident and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
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