SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Glen Westerhouse, a Springfield Uber Driver, picked up Domingues Buenrostro as a customer on Oct. 14.

“I know when I picked [Buenrostro] up, he was, you know, you know, pretty nice. You know, he was trying to get home,” said Westerhouse.  “What I do remember is I remember obviously picking up my passenger and then getting to the intersection, and then from there, everything goes black.” 

What happened after Westerhouse went black is something he’s recovering from, mentally and physically.

Prosecutors say another driver, Andrew Irizarry-Sierra, reached speeds over 100 mph and collided with the back of Westerhouse’s car, which was sitting idle at a stoplight at the intersection of National and Sunshine.  

“Fast forward and then I’m, you know, waking up in a hospital gown, bruises all over me, got a couple staples in me,” Westerhouse said. “It feels like I didn’t do a good job. Part of me wishes, you know, I could have done something better so that he’d be alive.” 

On Monday, prosecutors charged Irizarry-Sierra with involuntary manslaughter and assault in connection to the crash and the death of Buenrostro.

“I feel, you know, maybe involuntary manslaughter might have been a little too light,” Westerhouse said. “You know, I mean, at the end of the day, I mean, the law is the law.” 

OzarksFirst reached out to Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson to elaborate on the charges.

“First-Degree Manslaughter charges punish deaths that result from reckless conduct like that you see in traffic crashes such as this, while murder in the second-degree would knowingly cause a death which in most situations would not apply in a traffic crash,” Patterson said.

Westerhouse says he’s communicated with friends and/or family of Buenrostro since the crash.

“If there was a set of words that could of, you know, you know, brought [Buenrostro] back, I’d have said it probably been among the first to say it,” Westerhouse said. “I can’t find the words because at the end of the day, I mean, there are no words good enough.” 

Irizarry-Sierra is scheduled to appear in court for a bond hearing on Oct. 30.