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Posted: 3:52 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012
By Martina Valverde
EL PASO, Texas —
A man accused of killing his two friends and injuring two others while driving drunk entered his second day of court as witnesses tried to piece together what happened last December.
Tuesday, the jury heard Vargas' words as he was interviewed by Officer David Perea in the early morning hours of Dec. 28, 2011. Before the interview, Vargas had asked about his friends. Perea testified that he was very honest, telling him two were dead and two others were in the hospital.
Vargas allegedly drove drunk, lost control of his car and slammed into a wall, which sent the car airborne. The car burst into flames, and Kim Araujo and Idaly Reyes were killed while Nefi Armendariz and Stacy Reyes are still recovering.
Vargas admitted to having eight mixed drinks and three beers. Vargas told Perea that the group had been out partying, and one of his friends said they wanted to go home instead of going to an after party. He then turned south on Mesa Street when the car fishtailed.
"The car went out of control," Vargas said.
Vargas said that the car hit the curb and nothing else. He also claimed to have pulled Idaly out of the car, but police said she was trapped inside and burned to death.
Armendariz, who is now in a wheelchair, gave his testimony in Tuesday's court session. Armendariz, who was a passenger in the vehicle, kept looking at Vargas, who was staring at the floor.
He said that afternoon, Vargas, Vargas' father and another man showed up at his sister's house. They had started drinking beer and watching TV, and after a few hours everyone left except for Vargas.
Vargas and Armendariz went to pick up a girl and returned to the house so Armendariz could shower. When they left, they stopped to get gas and buy beer, Armendariz said.
They later went to pick up Idaly, Reyes and Araujo. They also stopped at one of Vargas' friend's home, and at that point, they had about 50 beers between the group, Armendariz said.
"At that point, I was pretty drunk," Armendariz testified.
Afterwards, they headed to the club, but stopped to buy more beer, Armendariz said.
Armendariz testified that was his last memory from the night. The next thing he remembered was waking up at the Lubbock Burn Unit two months later with 35 percent of his body charred.
If convicted, Vargas could face 20 years in prison for each of the two counts of intoxicated manslaughter and up to 10 years for the two counts of intoxicated assault.
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