A birthday night in Texas has turned into a criminal case, a funeral, and a painful public question about privilege, recklessness, and the cost of getting behind the wheel after drinking.
Prosecutors say Dejon Fortune, a 20-year-old from the Katy area, was celebrating his birthday when the night ended in a deadly crash involving a family-owned 2021 BMW X5 and a black Cadillac driven by 53-year-old Sung Bae. What began as a late-night trip to Taco Bell after a party, investigators say, became a violent collision that killed an innocent driver and left police sorting through alcohol, conflicting statements, and a damaged luxury SUV.
Fortune has been charged with intoxication manslaughter after authorities said he was behind the wheel of the BMW in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The SUV, valued at about $60,000 and reportedly owned by his father, became a central image in the case: a high-powered vehicle, a young driver, two female passengers, alcohol allegedly inside the car, and a road that became the scene of a fatal crash.
The crash that turned a birthday into a criminal case
Authorities say Fortune was driving with two young women in the BMW after leaving a friend’s house, where he had been celebrating his 20th birthday. Court records say he told investigators he was heading to Taco Bell with the two women when the collision happened…