Lawsuit: Family blames dealership, salesman, and driver for mother’s death in June crash

Editor’s Note: The video above first aired on June 12 after Meece was arrested and charged in connection with this deadly crash.

ECTOR COUNTY, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- “This lawsuit is necessary because of a muscle car test drive that went horribly wrong and took an innocent mother from her children. Speed may sell, but here, it killed.”

That was the argument made by attorneys with Zehl & Associates in a wrongful death lawsuit filed this week in connection with the death of 47-year-old Quma Carrillo. Carrillo died on June 7 after a collision on E University Boulevard.

According to an Odessa Police Department report , around 9:35 a.m. on June 7, officers were called to the area of E University Boulevard and Oakwood Drive to investigate a crash. At the scene, officers learned that a blue Dodge Challenger bearing dealer tags was heading eastbound on E University when it collided with a red Honda Accord that was traveling westbound on E University, attempting to turn south onto Oakwood Drive.

Investigators said that 37-year-old Benjamin Meece was test driving the Dodge and a car salesman was riding as a passenger when the crash occurred. Following the crash, officers said Meece ran from the scene and was found trying hide under a sheet of plywood in the backyard of a home on Laguna Place.

Both Meece and the salesman were taken from the scene to the hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash; an affidavit states that the salesman suffered a brain bleed among other injuries.

Carrillo, the driver of the Honda, was thrown from her vehicle when it collided with the Dodge; she died at the scene.

Because of the damages done to the vehicles involved in this crash, investigators believed that speed played a factor; in fact, data obtained from the vehicle showed that the Challenger had “100 percent throttle and reached speeds of up to 124 miles per hour before the crash”. Video obtained from area businesses helped officers calculate speeds as well and showed the average speed of the Challenger to be 115, 119, and 121 miles per hour in the minutes leading up to the crash.

On June 8, OPD investigators obtained a warrant for Meece’s arrest and originally charged him with Failure to Stop and Render Aid; Meece was not taken into custody immediately because of his medical status and hospitalization. Then, on June 11, Meece was arrested and booked on new charges; Manslaughter, Collision Involving Death, Collision Involving Serious Bodily Injury, and Aggravated Assault Causing Serious Bodily Injury.

Jail records show that Meece is also facing Criminal Trespass charges from an incident in February after investigators said he broke into a business and stole a vehicle. He’s also facing a charge out of Midland County for Abandoning/Endangering a Child and has been arrested more than 25 times since 2005 on charges such as Reckless Driving, Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity, Theft of Property, Theft of a Firearm, Evading Arrest, Forgery, and more.

Now, attorneys with Zehl & Associates have named Meece, along with car salesman, Kenneth Salas, and Lithia Motors doing business as All American Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Odessa, as co-defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit and have alleged that Meece should never have been allowed behind the wheel and that Salas used unsafe tactics to try and make a sale.

The suit alleged that Salas “promotes muscle car joy rides to meet sales goals”. Lawyers for the family cited an example pulled from Salas’ Facebook page in which he described a “hell of a test drive” which ultimately led to the sale of a Shelby 350 in 2022.

“Indeed, these white-knuckle rides helped Salas sell expensive sports cars and make his clients’ dreams come true,” the lawsuit stated. “These social media posts- equally available to Salas, his All American employer, and the public- put customers and employers alike on notice that Salas would go the extra mile (per hour) to give customers an unforgettable sales experience. While these rides may have helped Salas sell sports cars, they were reckless…It was only a matter of time until these sales-driven joy rides turned deadly…”.

It’s a joy ride that never should have happened, according to the lawyers at Zehl & Associates, because of Meece’s lengthy arrest record.

“Based on Meece’s publicly available history, however, Salas and All American should never have let him behind the wheel of any vehicle, let alone a high-performance one. Just a cursory review of local arrest records would have made it clear to Salas and All American that Meece should not be trusted…His many reckless driving and failure to maintain financial responsibility infractions should have set off alarms…,” the lawsuit continued.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs, Carrillo’s three children, alleged that in the midst of Salas’ sales pitch, both he and Meece failed to control their speed, which left both vehicles totaled, and Carrillo dead.

“Quma’s family would never see her alive again. Even worse, (her daughter) came upon the accident scene by happenstance when driving to get a coffee and saw her mother’s lifeless body (lying) on the street,” the lawsuit continued.

Lawyers for the family have asked for compensation to recover the economic and non-economic damages caused by Carrillo’s death and have requested a jury trial.

“Benjamin Meece had no business being allowed behind the wheel in the first place. On top of that, his recklessness and negligence were enabled by a man trying to make a sale,” said Zehl & Associates founding partner Ryan Zehl. “Nothing will bring Quma back to her family, but we want to make sure that Mr. Meece, Mr. Salas and the dealership are held accountable.”

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