Truck driver and company owner accused of deleting dash cam footage after crash that killed two college students

A truck driver and a trucking company owner are accused of deleting dash cam footage of a deadly crash that killed two college students in Texas more than two years ago. 

The accident happened in Angelina County, Texas along Highway 59 in Corrigan back in 2023. 70-year-old truck driver Antonio Sandoval Jr. and 53-year-old trucking company owner Marlin Kendall Hughes are charged with intentionally or knowingly altering, destroying and concealing a video, photograph, digital media and a dash camera with intent to impair their availability as evidence in the investigation against them.

According to KTRE 9, Sandoval did not yield the right of way as he attempted to enter Highway 59, resulting in a crash that killed Stephen F. Austin State University students Micah McAfoose and Graylan Spring. 

Sandoval was initially facing charges of negligent homicide, but a jury found insufficient evidence to indict him on those charges. 

At the time of their arrest in 2025, Sandoval and Hughes denied the existence of a dash cam in the semi truck during the crash, and did not provide the camera or SD card as evidence at any time during the investigation. Evidence that the dash camera existed was not discovered until proceedings for the Spring family’s civil case against Sandoval. In that instance, the Spring family’s attorney obtained body cam footage from a Texas DPS trooper that showed a dash cam system in the truck during the initial response to the accident. 

Sandoval has since stated that he removed the camera from the truck back in January 2023 after the crash and placed it in a bag, which he gave to Hughes. He says he knew the camera and any footage it contained would be important to the investigation, but denied deleting files from the system, trying to copy the video, or removing an SD card, reported KTRE 9.

Investigators were able to obtain the dash camera, but found that there was no data on it. It is unclear if that was due to the information being wiped or the SD card being damaged. Hughes has since admitted to instructing Sandoval to give him the camera, and concealing its existence from officers. 

“Mr. Hughes is a highly respected businessman and valued member of the Polk County community. He has no prior criminal history and did not commit a crime in this case. We look forward to presenting our case in court,” Hughes’ lawyer said in court.