{"id":740358,"date":"2026-07-03T06:27:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T06:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/740358\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T06:27:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T06:27:14","slug":"tesla-model-3-driver-charged-with-manslaughter-in-katy-texas-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/740358\/","title":{"rendered":"Tesla Model 3 driver charged with manslaughter in Katy, Texas crash"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

A Texas man has been charged with manslaughter after authorities said his Tesla crashed<\/a> into a home last month, killing a 76-year-old grandmother.<\/p>\n

According to court documents, Michael David Butler, 44, told investigators he was driving a Tesla Model 3 with a Tesla driver-assistance system engaged<\/a> when it crashed into Martha Avila’s home in Katy on June 19. He later told paramedics the vehicle was on “Autopilot,” according to the affidavit. Tesla has disputed that account.<\/p>\n

Avila was inside the residence when the vehicle crashed into the home. She was flown by Life Flight to a local hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.<\/p>\n

CHARTER BUS DRIVER WHO ALLEGEDLY CAUSED CRASH KILLING 5 IN VIRGINIA CHARGED WITH INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Michael <\/p>\n

Michael David Butler has been charged with manslaughter after authorities said his Tesla crashed into a Katy, Texas, home, killing 76-year-old Martha Avila. <\/p>\n

Butler was arrested Thursday and charged with manslaughter, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.<\/p>\n

According to an arrest affidavit, Butler told investigators he was making a DoorDash delivery when he adjusted the music on the Tesla’s touchscreen before he “passed out.”<\/p>\n

The affidavit alleges the vehicle reached 73 mph \u2014 more than double the posted speed limit \u2014 and that the brake pedal was not applied during the minutes leading up to the crash.<\/p>\n

NASA NUCLEAR ENGINEER FOUND DEAD IN BURNED TESLA AFTER VANISHING FROM HIS ALABAMA HOME LAST YEAR<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A 76-year-old woman was killed after a Tesla in autopilot mode crashed into her Texas home. (Jennifer Barbour via Storyful)<\/p>\n

The sheriff’s office said Butler failed to maintain<\/a> a single lane before leaving the roadway and crashing through the side of the home.<\/p>\n

Ring doorbell footage<\/a> of the crash shows the vehicle slamming into the house at a high rate of speed.<\/p>\n

According to the affidavit, Butler denied feeling ill or consuming alcohol or drugs before the crash.<\/p>\n

‘TESLA ROAD RAGE DRIVER’ SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS IN PRISON AFTER ATTACKING MOTHER AND DAUGHTER IN HAWAII<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Tesla <\/p>\n

Authorities allege the Tesla reached 73 mph before crashing into a Katy, Texas, home. (Christopher Goodney\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Tesla has disputed Butler’s account. CEO Elon Musk<\/a> said a vehicle operating in Full Self-Driving mode would travel slowly through residential streets, while Tesla’s head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said Butler manually overrode the system by fully depressing the accelerator.<\/p>\n

“In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area,” he wrote in a post on X.<\/p>\n

KHOU-TV reported Butler appeared in probable cause court Thursday, where his bail was set at $150,000. He was also ordered to wear an ankle monitor and not drive.<\/p>\n

Avila’s family sued Tesla last week, alleging her death resulted from the company’s gross negligence and failure to warn consumers that its self-driving systems were defective.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

Fox News Digital has reached out to Tesla for comment.<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital’s Tessa Hoyos and Reuters contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A Texas man has been charged with manslaughter after authorities…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":740359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28,11,2785,74,1019],"class_list":["post-740358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-elon-musk","tag-safety","tag-technology","tag-tesla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/740359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}