A 76-year-old woman died Friday night after a Tesla, allegedly in self-driving mode crashed through her home in Katy, Texas, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, cited by NBC News. The driver, identified by authorities as Michael Butler, was also injured in the crash. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday that it has opened a special investigation into the incident.
According to the sheriff’s office, Butler was driving a Tesla Model 3 eastbound at around 8 p.m. when the car crashed through a brick home in the Houston suburb. The vehicle reportedly struck Martha Avila, who was inside the home at the time. Avila was airlifted to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the sheriff’s office said.
Butler told authorities that the vehicle was in a self-driving mode when the crash happened. Officials said Butler showed no signs of intoxication and was cooperative during the investigation, and he was also taken to a hospital for his injuries.
Tesla CEO disputes characterization of crash speed on social media
CEO Elon Musk responded Monday night to a news report about the crash in a post on X. “FSD drives slowly through neighborhood streets and this was a high speed crash!” he wrote, referring to the vehicle’s Full Self-Driving mode. The comment comes as Tesla’s driver-assist system has separately drawn attention this year after a Tesla owner narrowly avoided a lake while using the same Full Self-Driving feature.
Authorities have said that Butler’s Tesla was moving at a “high rate of speed” before the crash. A spokesperson for the law firm Zehl & Associates said that the firm plans to file a lawsuit on behalf of Avila’s family.
Jennifer Carson, a neighbor who lives a few doors down from Avila, told NBC News she was at home Friday night watching a movie with a friend when she heard the crash. “It sounded like thunder,” she said. Carson said she reviewed security footage captured by a neighbor’s camera that appeared to show the car driving through the subdivision moments before impact, and shared it with NBC News.
Carson said she could not believe how fast the Tesla appeared to be moving in the footage. “I don’t know how someone could have gotten as fast as they did,” she said. Carson added that she often hears cars revving their engines and speeding down her street and in the surrounding neighborhood, though she did not say whether this was connected to Friday’s crash.
Carson said she did not know Avila or her family well, but said they have lived in the neighborhood for years. Another neighbor, who spoke to NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston, described Avila as a second mother to her. “It’s a tragedy,” she told the station.
As reported by CNN, Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features have faced scrutiny since they were introduced. In December 2023, Tesla recalled more than 2 million vehicles after regulators said the company had not done enough to make sure drivers stayed attentive while Autopilot was active, per a Tesla employee who told the BBC. That recall followed an NHTSA investigation into a series of accidents linked to the technology, and it came during a period in which Tesla’s annual vehicle deliveries declined compared with the prior year.
In December 2025, a California judge ruled that Tesla’s marketing of its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features had been deceptive, according to NBC News. The judge reportedly found that the company had falsely suggested its vehicles were fully autonomous.
The cause of Friday’s crash remains under investigation by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. No additional details about the federal investigation’s scope or timeline have been released.
Published: Jun 23, 2026 03:15 pm