Texas man faces manslaughter charge in fatal Tesla crash into Katy home

Driver told police car was on Full Self-Driving, investigators say

A 44-year-old Texas man is accused of causing a fatal crash while driving a Tesla in suburban Houston, a technology that has been under scrutiny for years.

Michael David Butler was charged with manslaughter after his 2025 Tesla Model 3 crashed into a home in Katy on June 19, killing Martha Avila, 76, according to court documents filed in Harris County. Butler remains in custody at the Harris County jail, court records show. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

According to an arrest affidavit, Butler told officials and paramedics that he was a DoorDash driver on a delivery run and that he last remembered operating the car in “FSD” mode and changing the music on the car’s touch screen before he “passed out.” Neither alcohol nor drugs were found in his system, the affidavit said.

Investigators seized the Tesla’s data recorder and analyzed dash-camera video and telemetry. They found that Butler manually pressed the accelerator pedal, “overriding the default FSD speed,” several times in the neighborhood where the crash occurred, the affidavit said. The Tesla reached 73 mph at one point, more than double the residential street’s speed limit. The brake pedal was not applied in the final minute before the crash, according to the affidavit.

Investigators also said Butler ran several Google searches on his phone, apparently frustrated that FSD was not “aggressive” enough, the affidavit said.

Tesla executives disputed Butler’s account, saying on social media that the car’s driver pressed the accelerator pedal down and kept it pressed even after the crash.

The crash triggered an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the top U.S. auto regulator. NHTSA has opened more than 40 investigations into crashes involving Tesla’s driver-assistance systems, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system controls steering, acceleration and braking but requires close human supervision and intervention if it disengages. The technology is a key pillar of Tesla’s shift toward automated driving, robotics and AI. Automakers are required to report all fatal crashes involving advanced driver-assistance systems to NHTSA.