Driver In Fatal Off-Roading Accident Charged With DWI

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX -- The driver in a fatal South Austin crash that claimed the life of a Hays County high school student has been formally charged with DWI.

John Ramirez, 28, refused a Breathalyzer test at the time of the incident on Monday shortly after 6 p.m. He later admitted to police he had consumed three beers at the Red Shed Tavern off South Congress Avenue before the accident, according to an Austin American-Statesman report.

Police say Ramirez met up with three young men after leaving the bar to go off-roading with them in an open field off Southpark Meadows shopping center.

The older-model Jeep Grand Cherokee Ramirez was driving flipped and caught fire. Ramirez and two other occupants were able to escape from the burning vehicle, but Joshua Otto was trapped inside and died at the scene.

Otto was a junior at Hays High School. He was 16 years old, and had attended school at the Hays Consolidated Independent School District since elementary school.

“The land they were driving on has unrestricted access via a dirt road off the parking lot of … Southpark Meadows and Alice Mae Drive,” an Austin police officer wrote in the arrest affidavit. “There are no homes on the land and no locks and is accessible to anyone.”

Property records indicate Southpark Meadows owns the property in the 9800 block of Alice Mae Lane, on the west portion of the shopping center.

After being charged with DWI on Wednesday, Ramirez was booked into Travis County Jail but has since bonded out after posting a $25,000 bail.

Otto’s death is the latest in a string of tragedies to befall the Hays CISD in recent months. A district spokesperson said two former Hays CISD students and four current ones have died since October.

District officials posted their condolences over Otto’s death on the Hays CISD Facebook page.

“He was a remarkable young man who has been a part of the Hays CISD family since elementary school,” the post reads. “He will be missed by the entire community. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.”

During the school day on Wednesday, grief counselors were made available to students coping with Otto’s death.

School officials have since created a GoFundMe site to help the Otto family offset funeral expenses at https://www.gofundme.com/joshuaottofund.

Otto family friends also have created a page called Hays CISD Helping Our Neighbors through which they are selling memorial items as another method of raising funds. The site can be found at www.hayscisd.net/help.

On Wednesday, a memorial wristband was added that can be ordered by emailing jordanwrenharborth@gmail.com or messaging Jordan Gully on Facebook.

Hays County is part of the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area located 30 miles south of Austin.

>> Photo of Joshua Otto, above, and wristband courtesy of Hays CISD