A Texas man is facing a manslaughter charge after investigators said his Tesla slammed into a home last month, killing a 76-year-old grandmother.
Court records say Michael David Butler, 44, told authorities he was behind the wheel of a Tesla Model 3 with a Tesla driver-assistance feature activated when the car crashed into Martha Avila’s home in Katy on June 19. The affidavit also states that Butler later told paramedics the vehicle had been on “Autopilot,” a claim Tesla has challenged.
Avila was inside the house at the time of the crash. She was transported by Life Flight to a nearby hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
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.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said Butler was arrested Thursday and booked on a manslaughter charge.
In an arrest affidavit, investigators said Butler reported he was making a DoorDash delivery and had been changing music on the Tesla’s touchscreen shortly before he “passed out.”
The affidavit alleges the car reached 73 mph, more than twice the posted speed limit, and that the brake pedal was not pressed in the minutes before the impact.
A 76-year-old woman was killed after a Tesla that was allegedly using a driver-assistance system crashed into her Texas home. (Jennifer Barbour via Storyful)
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The sheriff’s office said Butler failed to maintain a single lane before leaving the roadway and crashing through the side of the home.
Ring doorbell footage of the crash shows the vehicle slamming into the house at a high rate of speed.
According to the affidavit, Butler denied feeling ill or consuming alcohol or drugs before the crash.
Authorities allege the Tesla reached 73 mph before crashing into a Katy, Texas, home. (Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Tesla has disputed Butler’s account. CEO Elon Musk 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.
“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.
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.
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.
News Agency has reached out to Tesla for comment.
