A man died in the road in Brownsville early Sunday. State troopers say the driver never stopped.

The Texas Department of Public Safety arrested Eduardo Hernandez, 24, of Brownsville. DPS booked him on a charge of failure to stop and render aid in a crash involving a death. In plain words, DPS says he hit a man and kept driving.

The crash happened at 12:02 a.m. Sunday. It was on State Highway 4, just west of FM 511. In Brownsville that road has another name. People call it Boca Chica Boulevard.

A DPS spokesperson gave this account. Hernandez was driving west. He was in a silver 2024 Jeep Wrangler. He crossed an intersection. Then he hit the curb.

A witness saw a man lying in the westbound lane. The Jeep kept going, the spokesperson said. Hernandez did not stop to help. The man in the road died right there.

Troopers found the Jeep a few hours later. They found Hernandez too. He was booked into the Cameron County Jail.

The timeline matters here. The wreck was at 12:02 a.m. Troopers had the Jeep and the driver within hours. DPS has not said how they found it. The agency has not said what shape the Jeep was in. Those answers usually turn up in the crash report.

Here is what the charge means. Texas law says a driver has to stop after a wreck. The driver has to help. The driver has to call for help. Skipping that step is a crime by itself. It does not matter who caused the wreck.

When the wreck kills someone, the charge gets heavy. It is a second degree felony. That is a serious charge. It can mean 2 to 20 years in prison. It can also mean a fine of up to $10,000.

Texas also puts a floor under probation here. Say a judge lets a driver stay out of prison. The judge still has to order at least 120 days in jail first. That is written into the law.

That range is not an accident. Texas raised it in 2013. Legal guides say lawmakers wanted it to match drunk driving deaths. The point was to keep a driver from getting off lighter by running away.

The man who died has not been named in public. DPS has not put out his age. No Valley outlet has printed his name. El Tejano is not printing it either. His family deserves to hear it first.

No bond amount has been reported. DPS has not said if drinking played any part. The agency has not named a lawyer for Hernandez. Troopers are still working the case.

State Highway 4 runs east and west. It starts at the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville. It ends at Boca Chica Beach on the Gulf. About six miles out it crosses FM 511, also called Indiana Avenue. The man died just west of that crossing, DPS said.

El Tejano covered another deadly Brownsville crash last month. Two people were indicted in a wreck that followed a Border Patrol chase. That case has nothing to do with this one. Different crash. Different people. Read it here: https://www.eltejanorgv.com/two-indicted-in-deadly-brownsville-crash-after-border-patrol-chase/

What comes next is the slow part. The case goes to Cameron County prosecutors. Felony cases in Texas go to a grand jury. Grand jurors decide if there is enough to move ahead. That step can take weeks or months.

Until then, the file stays open. DPS says troopers are still investigating. That means the story can still change. A crash report can add facts.

El Tejano will follow this one. If the man who died is named by his family, we will report it with care. If the charge changes, we will report that too.

A charge is not proof. Everyone is innocent until a court says otherwise.