Charge upgraded to murder in deadly DWI crash on Dallas North Tollway

A 30-year-old man with three previous convictions for driving while intoxicated now faces a murder charge in a deadly wrong-way crash Monday on the Dallas North Tollway.

Chaz Halston Thames was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Dallas County Jail, with bail set at $500,000. A spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety said investigators uncovered additional evidence that warranted the upgraded charge.

Earlier this week, Thames bonded out of jail after he was booked on a charge of intoxication manslaughter.

The crash occurred at 2 a.m. and killed Melvin Anthony Taylor, a veteran who served in the Marines and was about to celebrate his 38th wedding anniversary.

Thames was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he told a state trooper that he had five shots of liquor earlier that night and thought he was driving west on Interstate 30 when he crashed, according to an arrest affidavit.

Thames was previously convicted of DWI offenses in 2011, 2013 and 2016, including one conviction that carried a 10-year prison sentence. He was released on parole after that conviction, records show.