Death In Dayton
For six years, we’ve been investigating a DEATH IN DAYTON. A mother is fighting to get justice that’s eluded her because of an incompetent police department. We want justice for Allyssa Salazar.
The wheels of justice often turn slowly…
But a criminal case can often be compromised…
Jeopardized even out right destroyed in the very few moments even after someone is killed because of police misconduct or simple incompetence for one mom justice has literal been a dead end in Dayton.
She hasn’t forgotten and neither have we.
“Got one occupant… looks like his head is pinned underneath the car,” said Officer Chowns.
What you’re seeing is a lifeless young woman… Allyssa Salazar… Pinned underneath a car.
“Got no signs of life I can’t check the pulse without climbing in the car. and I don’t want to do that because the car is on his head,” said Officer Chowns.
She was left for dead.
“They left the car on top of her. My daughter was crushed to death. She broke every bone in her body. I couldn’t even have a funeral,” said Amanda Morales.
Allyssa’s story made local headlines.
“The palpable pain from a Dayton mother is sharing her emotional plea only on fox 26,” said the Fox 26 news anchor.
But 6 years later… Allyssa’s mom… Amanda Morales is still waiting for justice… Waiting for answers.
“If you could call heaven right now, what would you say to Alyssa,” said Peyton Huessner.
“That I love her, that my heart is broken, that I miss her so much. I want her… I want her to come back,” said Amanda Morales.
In July of 2020, Amanda’s 27-year-old daughter, Allyssa Salazar went drinking with friends and never returned home.
Allyssa had been at bombshells with her boyfriend and this woman…Bernice Montano.
Snapchat videos from that night show they were drinking heavily… Beer… Mixed drinks… Shots.
See how many drinks Bernice had…
Allyssa started to leave with her boyfriend, but Bernice chased after her… Asked her to stay longer… Saying she’d take her home.
Allyssa agreed. After a few more drinks, Allyssa got into Bernices car.
A decision… That would seal her fate.
“How couldn’t she not be drunk? If all the witnesses said she was doing shots, they were going outside smoking a joint,” said Amanda Morales.
Bernice was driving north on 146 when she lost control of her car.
That car that flew over a ditch and flipped multiple times.
Allyssa was ejected through the sunroof… The car landed on top of her.
Body camera footage shows Bernice arriving on scene approximately 7 minutes after Dayton police arrived… Her absence was never questioned.
Bernice starts to tell a story to police.
“I was brake really hard because I didn’t expect them to be as close as they were…I braked for maybe a mile and a half and then it just starts flipping,” said Bernice Montano.
Despite seeing Bernice throwing up…
And liquor bottles scattered all over her car, police didn’t question her story… Never even gave her a sobriety test.
Listen to the lies she tells officers about where she was before the crash.
“She was drinking with some guy. and she called me to pick her up because he left her. and then I picked her up,” said Officer Chown’s.
But this snapchats video proves otherwise.
Bernice had ignored our phone calls…So we made an unscheduled visit.
“I’m sorry. You’re making me, like, you’re bringing all this stuff up. You know, I’ve spent all my life,” said Bernice Montano.
Avoiding responsibility for killing her own friend.
“I went back on the video and he’s like you didn’t have not one drink he was so I can’t do nothing about it,” said Bernice Montano.
“Yeah, because there’s a video of y’all drinking at, I think it was bombshells,” said Peyton Huessner.
The police report also states one of the men they were drinking with was this guy… Eric Bonilla. He would later confirm with police that “the two girls showed up together… Drinking shots of alcohol before closing”
“The way she’s lying to the police, and the way she threw up everywhere, and they’re just walking over the throw up, how they were spitting at the crime scene. Nothing was picked up. It’s just a horrible, horrible situation,” said Amanda Morales.
Grey Goose and Fireball bottles… weed… a gun… and $1000 were found scattered around Bernice’s car… but Dayton PD never collected the evidence and they clearly saw it. They even took pictures.
Bernice wasn’t asked to do a breath test.
And despite having an active warrant out… Bernice was never arrested.
“She didn’t go to jail. She hasn’t not even spent one day in jail. She had an active warrant. she had drugs, alcohol. She had a bag full of money, thousands of dollars. She was unlawfully carrying a weapon. she was intoxicated,” said Amanda Morales.
But instead of a cop car… She got in an ambulance headed to the hospital… Where she fled before getting checked out.
“I want Bernice in jail. You took a human life. You are lying about everything. You know you killed her. You killed her,” said Amanda Morales.
“It was an accident. I mean, if you get in a car wreck, should you be in trouble because it was an accident,” said Amanda Morales.
Yes…If you killed someone while you were drinking you should pay the price.
In body cam footage from that night… A Dayton police Seargent Head can be seen spitting tobacco around the car… Contaminating a crime scene.
Because officers didn’t collect enough evidence… Dayton PD opened an investigation for criminally negligent homicide.
Detective Terry Hughes was assigned to the case.
Read his own report after he didn’t obtain the black box on the car to verify the speed… The car was then destroyed.
The investigation without having forensics done.
The former city manager in Dayton wrote this complaint listing the “failures of the Salazar case” by Dayton police chief Robert Vine.
The failure to use professional training… Properly investigate and collect evidence. Today, Vine is a city manager in Mount Pleasant Texas
The also states officers treated Ms. Morales poorly during the investigation.
“I was treated very disrespectful. I lied too. I yelled at. I was belittled. All because I want justice for my daughter. All because wanted to know what happened,” said Amanda Morales.
And Amanda believes it was because her daughter was Hispanic.
“Quite frankly what that police department has done to these mothers is just disgusting and there’s really no other word for it,” said Wayne Dolcefino.
At our press conference in Dayton five years ago Amanda joined another mother whose daughter Maddie Quiroz had been paralyzed from the waist down in another crash totally botched by Dayton police.
No one took the time to investigate it thoroughly because of her ethnicity, we believe.
“Dayton, Dayton is very racist. They really don’t like Hispanics or Blacks. They’re, the population is mostly white, which it doesn’t matter to me what color you are, but they seem to treat us differently,” said Wayne Dolcefino.
Melancon stripped chief vine of his title… Reduced his pay and put him on probation.
But that didn’t last long. just 10 days later… Vine filed this official complaint against Melancon.
As a result… The interim city manager… David Willard… “reinstated chief vine’s position with no reduction in compensation.”
It’s not right what they’re doing. It’s not right that nobody’s been held accountable. how,” said Amanda Morales.
A death investigation was presented to a liberty county grand jury… But it was no billed…
Eradicating all channels for accountability.
“I said how can you kill a person and get away with it, with all the evidence,” said Amanda Morales.
Shane Burleigh is now the Dayton police chief.
He was also on the scene of the crash… As a lieutenant the highest-ranking Dayton officer on the scene.
“Do you think that you know, this investigation was handled properly,” said Peyton Huessner.
“So no as a matter of fact, it was not,” said Shane Burleigh.
But Officer Chowns was on the scene too. He doesn’t seem to have a problem with how he handled it.
“Do you think that the case was handled properly,” said Peyton Huessner.
“To the best of our abilities on that night, yes, they were,” said Officer Chowns.
“Why wasn’t she given a sobriety test after she had killed somebody,” said Peyton Huessner.
“You know what? I don’t think I’m going to answer your questions,” said Officer Chowns
But there was another chance for accountability after these botched police investigation… It was in the hands of this man… Jesse Prado of JPPI investigations.
“Sir why don’t you answer our questions?”
Prado is notoriously known for his report on the Robb elementary shooting that occurred in Uvalde, Texas.
Despite the clear evidence of a gross failure of police….
Prado said the officers acted in “good faith” and recommended that all officers should be exonerated and cleared of all wrongdoing for their lack of response in the shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers.
“Her son’s birthday should’ve been Tuesday answer her! His name was Xavier Lopez. You’re not going to talk to his mother Felicia?”
Prado was paid $12,395 taxpayer dollars to investigate complaints made against officers as a third-party investigator.
“He ruined it for me. He ruined for me, he wrote a malicious, harmful and false report,” said Amanda Morales.
In his report… Prado states he did not see SGT head pick up a liquor bottle… Even though he’s captured doing just that on body.
“Prado’s only recommendation for the Dayton police officers was more training. He didn’t even mention investigating the alleged Hispanic discrimination,” said Peyton Huessner.
No one lost their job… no one was demoted. Any record of the incompetence was eventually erased from their records.
No justice for Allyssa Salazar… No justice for Amanda Morales.
“So, who do I believe with all this corruption? Who do I turn to? I don’t know. I don’t know, but by the grace of God, I’m going to keep fighting,” said Amanda Morales.
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