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Eric Augustine Orduna

Age : 22

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 10/01/2021

Location : 5800 block of Fairdale Lane near Fountain View Drive

City : Houston

County : Harris

State : Texas

Agency : Houston Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON WHY PURSUIT WAS INITIATED:
At approximately 10:30 p.m., a Houston Police sergeant saw a white Infiniti G37 doing donuts and burnouts in a parking lot near Fairdale Lane and Fountain View Drive. The sergeant activated the patrol vehicle's emergency lights and siren and attempted a traffic stop. The driver continued driving away and police initiated a pursuit.
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OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY:
On 10/01/2021, Houston Police pursued the Infiniti from the parking lot into the surrounding residential streets. The fleeing vehicle reached approximately 60 mph in a 30-mph area before reaching three Prospect Park valet workers walking back toward the restaurant after parking customers' vehicles.
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The Infiniti struck Eric Orduna, Fnan Measho and Nick Rodriguez. All three young men were killed at the scene. The fleeing vehicle subsequently entered a ditch, flipped and crashed. Sixteen-year-old passenger Mohammed Alkatip was ejected and seriously injured, requiring multiple surgeries to his legs.
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Eric was born in Houston on 07/27/1999 and was the youngest of three siblings. His family remembered him as kind, loving, selfless and exceptionally devoted to his parents and siblings. He loved cars and football and was working regularly as a valet to save money for a car, but his larger ambition was to earn enough eventually to buy his parents a house.
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Eric also dreamed of studying music and possibly attending Rice University. His family described him as unusually responsible for his age: he cared little about expensive clothes, new phones or social-media attention, rarely went out and reliably worked his Friday and Saturday shifts. On the night he died, he was doing exactly that—working his regular valet shift and walking back after parking a customer's vehicle.
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Eric's mother, Rose Orduna, publicly questioned the Houston Police pursuit after her son's death and struggled with not knowing what he experienced during his final moments. His sister Elizabeth described the lifelong grief of losing her youngest brother, while his older brother Junior joined the other families in demanding justice for all three men.
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DISPOSITION:
Ahmedal Tayeb Elnouman Modawi was charged with three counts of murder and aggravated assault with serious bodily injury. He later pleaded guilty in connection with the three deaths and was sentenced on 06/30/2023 to 10 years in prison.
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No Houston Police officer was criminally charged for an officer's role in initiating or continuing the pursuit.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Houston Police Department did not publicly identify the sergeant who initiated and participated in the fatal pursuit.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://abc13.com/prospect-park-workers-killed-fnan-measho-eric-orduna-nick-rodriguez/11076546/
https://abc13.com/prospect-park-valet-workers-killed-sports-bar-ahmedal-tayeb-elnouman-modawi/11081879/
https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/10/04/families-mourn-the-valets-killed-friday-by-a-driver-attempting-to-evade-police/
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/houston-tx/eric-orduna-10391367
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/Teen-driver-charged-in-deaths-of-three-valets-16507611.php
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/valet-deaths-modawi-18178818.php