Suspect arrested for DWI crash that killed Keller ISD coach’s wife

FORT WORTH, Texas - Eight weeks after a wrong-way crash that killed a Keller ISD coach’s wife, the Texas Department of Public Safety has arrested a suspect.

What we know:

Eduardo Partida, 20, was taken into custody Saturday after a DPS trooper pulled him over for speeding on U.S. Highway 377. Authorities say three felony warrants appeared during the stop, and Partida was booked into the Parker County Jail, which DPS said was the closest facility at the time. He is expected to be transferred to the Tarrant County Jail this week.

Partida is charged with intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault with a vehicle in connection with the Sept. 14 crash that killed Brytni Elliott and seriously injured her husband, Spencer Elliott, a Keller ISD teacher and coach, and their 12-year-old daughter, Allie.

The backstory:

Fort Worth police said Partida was driving drunk and traveling the wrong way down Boat Club Road when he slammed head-on into the Elliott family’s Ford Expedition. The family was returning home from a late-night baseball tournament and was only five minutes from their house when the crash occurred.

Partida was also hospitalized after the crash and had not been charged until now. Police say they were waiting for his blood test results, which were returned last week. According to sources, Partida’s blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit. A judge signed the arrest warrants Friday, and Partida was taken into custody the following day.

Local perspective:

For the Elliott family, the arrest brings mixed emotions after weeks of waiting for justice.

"It’s a sense of, ‘OK, maybe this is progressing. Maybe he is not free,’" said Cooper Elliott, the family’s eldest daughter. "We have been in the gray area since the accident. One second, he’s in the hospital, and another, he’s not. We had no idea where he was."

Fort Worth police explained the unaccounted for gap between Partida's release and his arrest, stating:

"Prior to receiving the BAC results from the lab, there was not sufficient evidence to obtain the arrest warrants, so there was a gap between the time that Mr. Partida was released from the hospital and when the arrest warrants were written."

What's next:

Spencer Elliott said while his family is relieved to see progress in the case, the loss of his wife remains painful.

"It doesn’t just stop here," he said. "It will never disappear for us. I just hope the justice system does right by us."

Spencer and Allie Elliott continued to recover from their injuries two months later.