Tesla driver charged after fatal crash into Texas home
An affidavit says Michael Butler claimed he had engaged Tesla’s driver-assistance system before the Katy crash that killed Martha Avila.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
A Texas man has been charged with manslaughter after his Tesla Model 3 crashed into a home in Katy and killed a woman inside, according to The Wall Street Journal and KHOU 11. The case adds criminal charges to a crash already under federal review and tied by investigators to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system.
Michael Butler, 44, was arrested Wednesday, according to an arrest affidavit cited by those outlets. The affidavit says Butler told responders he had been using Tesla’s driver-assistance features before the June 19 crash that killed 76-year-old Martha Avila.
NBC News reported that Avila died after the vehicle drove into her house in a residential neighborhood in Katy, Texas. According to the affidavit, Butler had been making deliveries for DoorDash before the collision.
What investigators say the vehicle data showed
The arrest affidavit says investigators reviewed video from Butler’s Model 3 and data from the car’s event recorder. According to the affidavit, officials concluded the accelerator pedal was pressed down during the final seconds, overriding Full Self-Driving speed control.
The affidavit says the accelerator pressure increased over roughly six seconds until the pedal reached 100 percent. Investigators said the vehicle hit 73 mph, more than twice the posted limit on the residential street, before it struck a curb, went airborne and hit the front of Avila’s home.
According to the affidavit, investigators found no braking in the final minute before the crash. The document also says a hospital evaluation did not detect alcohol or drugs in Butler’s system.
Tesla AI chief Ashok Elluswamy said on X after the crash that the driver had manually overridden self-driving by fully pressing the accelerator. His statement matched the affidavit’s account that accelerator input overrode the system’s speed control.
Driver statements and phone searches
The affidavit says Butler told paramedics the car was on “autopilot.” It also says he recalled changing music and looking at the navigation screen before the crash.
According to the affidavit, Butler later told medical providers that he remembered putting the car into self-driving mode and said he “passed out.” Investigators also said data taken from his phone showed several Google searches in May about Tesla Full Self-Driving being too cautious or not aggressive enough for city driving.
The searches listed in the affidavit included queries about Full Self-Driving in a 2026 model and whether the system was “too timid.” Police cited those searches as part of their account of Butler’s recent concerns about the system’s behavior.
Federal probes and lawsuit
ABC News reported that Avila’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Butler and Tesla. The claims in that case have not been resolved.
The Guardian reported that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board has also begun a review, according to reports cited by The Verge.
The affidavit does not state that Tesla’s system caused the crash. It says investigators found that Butler’s accelerator input overrode Full Self-Driving speed control before the vehicle left the roadway and struck the home.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.