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Man accused of killing 2 in houseboat accident indicted on criminally negligent homicide, intoxicated manslaughter charges

Posted at 3:34 PM, Oct 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-15 17:33:40-05

A grand jury has indicted a man accused of killing a 4-year-old and her father on two counts of criminally negligent homicide and two counts intoxicated manslaughter. 

Jason Bernal, 43, allegedly struck a 4-year-old with a houseboat - killing her and her father that attempted to save her. The incident happened in late June.

In Oct., Bernal's lawyer said that Bernal was found not be intoxicated at the time of the incident and will keep his driver's license. 

A recent hearing had determined that Bernal was not intoxicated at the time of their deaths and taking away his driver's license was not necessary. 

Central Texas News Now has reached out for clarification on the indictments. 

The Bell County District Attorney's Office returned comment Wednesday stating; 

"This office can only comment on the decision that the Bell County Grand Jury returned an indictment with the two counts as indicated.  It is not proper to speak to the facts of the case as it is a pending case."

The 4-year-old, Kaitlyn Oliver, died from her injuries the night of the accident. Her father, Patrick Oliver, died from his injuries about two weeks after. 

According to police, the 4-year-old girl was playing in the water when a houseboat backed up and ran over her. She became tangled in the propeller, receiving lacerations all over her body. Temple police said her father jumped in to save her, but became tangled up in the propeller as well.

READ MORE: 
Suspect now charged with homicide for death of father, 4-year-old struck by houseboat

CTX remembers Patrick & Kaitlyn Oliver

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