New video shows a wrong-way driver barreling down a highway in Dallas County just moments before a deadly crash.
Sunnyvale Police said the driver, 22-year-old Edgar Cortez was drunk. Cortez is charged with intoxication manslaughter in connection to the death of 34-year-old Johnathan Washington.
On an almost empty US Highway 80 East in Sunnyvale, a wrong-way driver zoomed past Jason Goodwin.
“We were heading back from Oklahoma, and we were heading home eastbound on Highway 80,” Goodwin said. “And we passed the driver probably around FM 740 in Forney.”
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His dashcam captured the moment the driver was traveling westbound on the left-eastbound lane. The video is timestamped at 2:32 a.m., Sunday, December 1.
“If I was in the other lane, that was it, because we had barriers on either side,” Goodwin said.
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Goodwin was in the car with his wife. In the video, they can be heard reacting to the close encounter.
Goodwin can be heard in the video asking, “Oh no. Do we call that in?” Goodwin goes on in the video saying, “He’s going to kill someone.”
Sunnyvale Police confirmed Goodwin called in the wrong way driver. Unfortunately, at 2:35 a.m. police responded to the scene of the fatal crash off US 80 East near Lawson Road.
Washington's family told NBC 5, he was headed back home to Forney from his second job.
“I’m extremely saddened that someone lost their life. It's a bummer. And it's stupid that it happened,” Goodwin said.
Tributes have poured in on social media as the community mourns the loss of Washington. His family said he had just finished a successful season as a coach for a little league football team.
Loved ones gathered at Washington’s alma mater W.W. Samuell High School Tuesday night to honor and remember the life he lived. His father, Bobby Washington Sr., said he received the call, along with his son’s mother, in the early morning hours that changed everything.
“When we got that call, we thought it was something that was strange and unusual. We never did expect this. Never in our lifetime,” he said.
Washington Sr. says Washington was not only a beloved little league coach but had also taken on a major role in his nephew’s lives after the death of his brother.
“Just to see him just watch them grow up and the respect that they had for him meant a whole hell of a lot to me,” he said. “I’m the papaw, and they had more respect for him than they did me. Just to see how they loved him and showed him respect meant a whole lot, not only his nephews but other kids too.”
In a statement to NBC 5, his family said in part, “He was also a husband. They were married for two years. He lost his brother in 2020 (and) became a father figure and role model for his nephews. He worked very hard for his family.”
On Tuesday, family and friends will hold a vigil and balloon release at Samuell High School. Washington graduated from the Dallas ISD school in 2008.
Funeral services for Washington have not been announced by the family.
