Woman pleads guilty to intoxication manslaughter in crash that killed Fort Worth teen

For Benjamin Castañeda Sr., the worst day of his life is forever burned into his memory, he said to a packed courtroom Thursday morning, where dozens wore purple shirts with his late son’s smiling face on them and script reading, “In Loving Memory of Isaac.”

Castañeda recalled seeing his 17-year-old son motionless on a gurney. In the hospital bed, there were tubes in every inch of his body. He watched his son’s once glowing eyes, which used to be full of love and excitement, build up with “glaze,” he said. His son’s neck was fractured so badly during a car crash, doctors told him the 17-year-old was medically brain dead.

Castañeda said he never got to say goodbye or “Love you, mijo” again.

“I hope on your deathbed, you remember my son’s name,” Castañeda told 31-year-old Noemi Martinez, who pleaded guilty to a charge of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle in the Fort Worth courtroom Thursday.

It was the morning of Thanksgiving 2019 and the Castañeda family was preparing for their annual tradition — tailgating the Cowboys’ game at AT&T Stadium. That morning, Castañeda called his brother Jacob in a panic, pleading that Jacob would say that Benjamin Isaac Castañeda Floran was with them and the phone call he received was a mistake.

Castañeda Floran was driving to the stadium when Martinez, who was 29 at the time of the accident, was driving under the influence and traveling the wrong way on Northeast Loop 820 in North Richland Hills. She hit Castañeda Floran’s vehicle head-on.

Prosecutors said that Martinez’s blood-alcohol level was double the legal limit at the time of the accident, and shortly after it occurred, video footage showed Martinez trying to hide alcohol bottles that were in the front seat of her car.

Tarrant County 432nd District Court Judge Ruben Gonzalez sentenced Martinez on Thursday to 10 years in prison. The judge made a deadly weapon finding, which means Martinez must serve at least half of her sentence before becoming eligible for parole, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

“I wish you could feel the pain, the depression and the loneliness you caused the Castañeda and Floran family,” Castañeda told Martinez, breaking down in tears, adding that the loss of his only son killed his family tree, and that his “pride and joy” is gone.

“You weaseled your way into only 10 years. … You think your life is more important than my son’s was,” he said, continuing that if she had as much remorse as her defense attorney said she did, she would’ve served life in jail rather than taking a plea deal.

Prior to Castañeda taking the stand, Martinez’s defense attorney, Lisa Mullen, said there was nothing Martinez could “say or do to calm the tide of the pain and suffering” the 17-year-old’s family has suffered the last two and a half years.

Martinez’s defense said that the single mother to a 10-year-old girl has spent the last couple of years trying to do what’s right, including agreeing to the plea so neither she nor the victim’s family would have to relive the 2019 events at a trial, attending AA meetings — sometimes daily — and advocating in the Latino community for others to learn through her mistakes.

“She’s never did anything in her life to hurt anybody,” Mullen said, adding that the 31-year-old had never been arrested or faced charges prior to the accident.

“This changed the course of her entire life,” Mullen said, explaining that Martinez hasn’t forgiven herself and lives with shame, especially when she looks at her daughter.

“But we can’t change it. We wish we could, because here we’re left with the loss of a young man’s life,” Martinez’s lawyer said. “[Taking the plea] is a huge sacrifice … [but it’s] not the same as what the Castañeda family has suffered.”

Several people in attendance shook their heads as Martinez’s attorney spoke to the court. One of the prosecutors countered that Martinez may be a great mother, sister or daughter, but that had “no bearing” on the situation at hand.

“Because of you, Ben will never know what it’s like to be a father or a grandfather one day,” Jacob Castañeda, the 17-year-old’s uncle, told Martinez. “My nieces will not know what it’s like to have a brother. His sisters and mother had to accept his high school diploma for him.”

Both Jacob and Ben Castañeda recalled Castañeda Floran’s love of music. The teenager was part of North Side High School’s mariachi band, in which he sang and played violin, as well as the local group Mariachi Orgullo Mexicano.

“He was bound for stardom — I just know it,” Jacob Castañeda said, crying. “You took everything from him. … [And] you took him from us.”

“You robbed him from his life,” Benjamin Castañeda added, saying that in a few years Martinez will be free and able to celebrate holidays and birthdays with her family, but he will never be able to do so again with his son. “You killed one-half of my soul. … I hope you’re never forgiven.”

Castañeda Floran is remembered as “an amazing young man full of life and joy,” who had a “contagious smile and his amazing big heart.”

“Ben was not only a great friend and entertainer to most, but also a great son, grandson, nephew, cousin, student, classmate, band-mate, neighbor, and most cherished by his little sisters, a big brother,” his obituary read.

The teen is survived by his parents, grandmothers and four sisters, one of whom was born on the day he was laid to rest.