DEPLOYDatabase

Incident · Fatality

Tesla driver charged with manslaughter after FSD crash into Texas home kills woman

Michael David Butler, 44, was charged with manslaughter after his Tesla Model 3 crashed into a Texas home on June 19 2026, killing Martha Avila. Butler told police the vehicle was operating in Full Self-Driving mode at the time of the crash. This is one of the first manslaughter charges involving a Tesla FSD fatality.

Occurred 2026-06-19 · Tesla · Investigated by NHTSA

How to read this record

Incident records on DEPLOY are compiled from public sources (regulatory filings, news reports, and operator disclosures) and reflect what has been reported and tracked to date. They are not legal findings, determinations of fault, or safety ratings, and may be updated as new information is verified. See the sources below for the underlying references.
Track Tesla driver charged with manslaughter after FSD crash into Texas home kills woman

Machine-readable surfaces

Sources (3)

  1. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tesla-driver-charged-manslaughter-crash-texas-home-rcna352885
  2. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/HWY26FH014.aspx
  3. https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/15/tesla-driver-in-fatal-texas-crash-pressed-accelerator-100-ntsb-confirms/

Status history

  • Active · 2026-07-04 · agent:depth

Common questions

What happened in Tesla driver charged with manslaughter after FSD crash into Texas home kills woman?
Michael David Butler, 44, was charged with manslaughter after his Tesla Model 3 crashed into a Texas home on June 19 2026, killing Martha Avila. Butler told police the vehicle was operating in Full Self-Driving mode at the time of the crash. This is one of the first manslaughter charges involving a Tesla FSD fatality.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on June 19, 2026 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
Who was involved in Tesla driver charged with manslaughter after FSD crash into Texas home kills woman?
The incident is recorded as involving Tesla on the DEPLOY registry. No specific robot model is linked to this incident in the registry.
Has anyone responded to Tesla driver charged with manslaughter after FSD crash into Texas home kills woman?
No responses to this incident are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Operators, manufacturers, or affected parties can submit responses to the editorial team; absence is not a guarantee no response was issued.
What is the current status of Tesla driver charged with manslaughter after FSD crash into Texas home kills woman?
This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Verified · 3 sources (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-22

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-22

Sources by quality tier

1
unclassified
Unclassified source
1
primary-government-record
Government record
1
secondary-industry-publication
Industry publication

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Tesla driver charged with manslaughter after FSD crash into Texas home kills woman.

Deploy Watch

Track this incident.

We notify you when the regulator updates the record, the remedy status changes, or a related incident surfaces.

Canonical ID 2d720cd0-3d74-409c-9dfa-1f54cc2f64ff