Man charged with manslaughter over Tesla crash originally blamed on car’s self-driving mode

Tesla said Michael Butler disabled his car’s self-driving mode before it plowed into Martha Avila’s home in June A man whose Tesla Model 3 was allegedly in self-driving mode when it crashed into a home near Houston and killed a 76-year-old woman inside recently has been jailed on a count of manslaughter. Michael Butler’s arrest in the 19 June death of Martha Avila was announced late on Wednesday in a Facebook post by the sheriff of Harris county, Texas, Ed Gonzalez. Continue reading...

Ramon Antonio Vargas · Fri, Jul 3, 2026, 9:15 AM
US news | The Guardian

Man charged with manslaughter over Tesla crash originally blamed on car’s self-driving mode

Tesla said Michael Butler disabled his car’s self-driving mode before it plowed into Martha Avila’s home in June

A man whose Tesla Model 3 was allegedly in self-driving mode when it crashed into a home near Houston and killed a 76-year-old woman inside recently has been jailed on a count of manslaughter.

Michael Butler’s arrest in the 19 June death of Martha Avila was announced late on Wednesday in a Facebook post by the sheriff of Harris county, Texas, Ed Gonzalez.

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