By Sarah Roebuck
Police1
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A deputy was killed after a suspected wrong-way driver crashed into the vehicle she was driving, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputy Meredith Portillo, 20, had two other occupants in the vehicle when they were struck by a wrong-way driver on July 21. Portillo was off-duty at the time of the crash.
Portillo and her passenger were killed upon impact, while the other passenger in her vehicle was seriously injured, the sheriff’s office said. The suspected wrong-way driver was also killed in the crash.
Portillo joined the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office in September 2023 at the age of 19 and worked at the Bexar County jail as a detention officer, the San Antonio Express-News reports. She graduated from the detention academy in January 2024 and was at the beginning of her career.
Portillo was recruited to join the sheriff’s office by her brother, who also works as a deputy, according to San Antonio Express-News. Her mother said she was only five minutes away from home when the crash happened.
