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Fleeing burglary suspect in fatal Stockyards crash charged with murder

A burglary suspect hit multiple cars in an intersection at the Fort Worth Stockyards after an attempted traffic stop. One innocent person was killed.

FORT WORTH – The burglary suspect who was involved in a fatal crash in the Fort Worth Stockyards while fleeing from police last week has now been charged with murder.

Police say Luis Young III, who was driving a stolen car, fled from an attempted traffic stop on Sept. 6 when he hit multiple vehicles in the intersection of North Main Street and East Exchange Avenue.

The driver of a gray Jeep, later identified as 58-year-old Gaudencia Meza, was killed in the crash. A passenger in the same car was hospitalized.

The scene of a fatal crash in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

According to police, officers were getting information on a burglary suspect when one officer spotted a car with a matching description roll through a red light.

The suspect, Young, first stopped and opened the car door, but shut it and drove off when he saw the uniformed officer, police say.

Young then fled, and another officer soon spotted him and started a pursuit.

Fort Worth police don't release details about their chase policy, calling that information "restricted" for officer safety.

But department sources tell WFAA chases of burglary suspects are allowed, if they get approved by a supervisor. It's unclear if that occurred Thursday.

The department is still investigating.

Young, 26, faces a felony theft charge as well as a burglary charge in addition to murder in Thursday's incident. Police initially charged him with evading arrest.

He has a criminal history that includes theft charges, according to court documents.

Images from the scene showed several badly damaged cars. Police say seven total cars were involved in the crash. Two of those cars were unoccupied, police said.

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