Teen faces intoxication manslaughter charges in Johnson County crash that killed 6

A teenager faces several charges, including intoxication manslaughter and assault, in connection with a crash that killed six people last year in Johnson County, authorities say.

Luke Resecker of Glen Rose faces six counts of intoxication manslaughter, two counts of intoxication assault and two counts of drug possession in the Dec. 26 incident, according to William Lockridge, a spokesman with the Texas Department of Public Safety. He was arraigned Tuesday.

Resecker, who was hospitalized in critical condition after the collision, was not ”medically fit” to be booked into the Johnson County jail and was restricted to monitored home confinement, Lockridge said. He posted bond and has since been released, Lockridge said.

The crash occurred shortly after 4 p.m. Dec. 26 near the intersection of U.S. Highway 67 and County Road 1119. Lockridge said Resecker was driving a 2014 Chevrolet Silverado south on U.S. 67 when he allegedly drove into oncoming traffic and struck a 2021 Honda Odyssey minivan head-on.

Six of the seven occupants of the minivan died: Rushil Barri, 28; Nageswararao Ponnada, 64; Sitamahalakshmi Ponnada, 60; Naveena Potabathula, 36; Krithik Potabathula, 10; and Nishidha Potabathula, 9, the DPS said.

The seventh occupant, Lokesh Potabathula, 43, was critically injured and taken to a hospital.

Aside from the two children who died, the victims were believed to be Indian nationals and all spoke Telugu, Ashok Kolla of the Telugu Association of North America told The Dallas Morning News. Their bodies were flown back to India on New Year’s Eve, Kolla said.