A Chico man has pleaded guilty to murder in connection with a fatal 2019 accident that killed a 38-year-old woman.
Jesse Ledesma entered his plea in 271st District Court in Decatur Monday, according to court records.
The 42-year-old Ledesma has been in the Wise County Jail since his arrest in December 2020.
His sentencing will take place at a future date. Prosecutors are recom- mending a 35-year prison sentence, according to court records.
Ledesma was the driver in a wreck June 3, 2019, that resulted in the death of Elizabeth Sutton, also of Chico.
According to the indictment, Ledesma was intoxicated and committed “an act clearly dangerous to human life…that caused the death of Elizabeth Sutton.”
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety crash report, Ledesma was charged with intoxication manslaughter following the wreck.
At the time of Ledesma’s arrest, then-District Attorney Greg Lowery explained that because Ledesma was driving while intoxicated with at least two prior driving while intoxicated convictions, that made the new DWI a felony. And since Sutton died while Ledesma was allegedly committing a felony, the charge increased to murder.
According to the DPS crash report, Ledesma was driving west on County Road 1470 northeast of Chico at a high rate of speed around 2:30 a.m. in a 2008 Ford F150. When the truck crested a small hill east of County Road 1560, Ledesma apparently lost control, and the truck went into a skid. The pickup skidded off the roadway and struck a tree.
Ledesma was thrown from the truck while Sutton remained in the vehicle, which caught fire and was completely destroyed by flames, according to the report.
Sutton was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ledesma was flown to John Peter Smith Hospital in Forth Worth with serious injuries and later released.
The DPS report lists speed and the influence of alcohol as contributing factors in the wreck.
According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Sutton’s adult children, Ledesma and Sutton are alleged to have been drinking alcoholic beverages that evening at the VFW Post in the 1300 block of U.S. 81/287 in Tarrant County, just south of the Wise County line prior to the accident. The lawsuit alleges the establishment provided alcoholic beverages to the two “even though it was apparent they were obviously intoxicated to the extent that they presented a clear danger to themselves and to other persons.”
The lawsuit is still pending in 271st District Court.
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