Elisa Bengoa admitted to slamming back five shots and five beers at Cheers Bar before getting behind the wheel in March 2022. Minutes later, she plowed into 30-year-old Samantha Martinez’s car on 34th Street, killing her instantly. Bengoa’s car kept going, smashing into a building for good measure. She later told police she didn’t even remember driving—or hitting anything.
On Thursday, Bengoa pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Her sentence? Ten years’ probation, community supervision, and a token 60 days in jail. That’s it. Kill someone while blackout drunk, serve two months, and then just “check in” with the system for a decade.
The victim’s family gets a lifetime of grief, but the person responsible gets what amounts to a stern finger wag and a 60-day timeout. Only in Lubbock could drinking yourself into amnesia and killing someone behind the wheel net you less time than skipping jury duty.
So the message is clear: five shots, five beers, one death—sixty days. What could possibly go wrong?
