Austin man convicted of 2 felonies will get probation instead of prison time

Austin (KXAN) -- Xavier Zarate, the man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter and injury to a child charges in the incident that left a 13-year-old south Austin boy dead back in 2022, will be officially sentenced in court Wednesday afternoon.

Court documents show Zarate will serve 10 years of probation for his actions, the maximum amount of probation allowed for these specific charges. As part of his plea deal, Zarate must also attend anger management and parenting classes, do community service, and pay the victim's family more than $17,000 in restitution. The exact amount of restitution is not clear because court documents show two different values and KXAN was not able to confirm the correct amount before publishing this story.

This stems from a deadly crash in April of 2022. An arrest affidavit said Zarate began chasing a group of children who he believed vandalized his home. The kids were on bikes and Zarate was in a car. When he caught up to the kids, the affidavit said a witness saw Zarate get out of the car and begin punching the teens.

A witness tried to break up the fight and said that's when the car started rolling and ran over 13-year-old Brett Cardenas. He was an eighth grade student at Bailey Middle School. Following the tragedy, family and friends held a vigil for Cardenas while wearing red, his favorite color.

KXAN reached out to the Travis County District Attorney's Office to ask why it did not seek any prison time for the convictions. A spokesperson said, "Our hearts go out to the family due for the tragic loss of their young son. Our office approaches every case the same way: we spend time reviewing the facts of the case, work with the family, and consider what, if anything, can be done to ensure that defendants are held accountable for their actions. While we can never bring back the child whose life was lost, this sentence will ensure the defendant is held accountable with two felony convictions, is supervised by the Courts for a long period of time, that the defendant is able to pay the restitution, has a final conviction in which defendant has waived their right to appeal, and that justice is served.”

Amber Vazquez, a criminal defense attorney who is not affiliated with this case, said the probation is "far from a slap on the wrist."

She said the prosecutors would have to show evidence that there was a mindset of criminal recklessness to prove this was manslaughter. Criminal recklessness would mean a person knows they are taking a particular risk, and yet follows through with the act, according to Vazquez.

"What the D.A. has to do is look at community safety, and quite frankly, with a probation you can get anger management and get restitution for a family," Vazquez explained.