Deputy Killed In Head-on Crash

A single father, Valdez, 32, patrolled the streets on the county's east side from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. so he could maximize the time he spent at home raising his 10-year-old son. Only a couple of hours into his shift, while he was on his way to make a welfare check, a Ford Explorer crossed into oncoming traffic, crashing head-on into Valdez's patrol car. Authorities arrested the driver of the Ford Explorer, 29-year-old Kelly Jo Ivey, charging her with possession of a controlled substance. The patrol car was so severely damaged, authorities had to use extraction tools to remove Valdez from the vehicle. An unidentified man in the passenger seat of the Explorer was treated at the scene. The narcotics had been put into pill form and were inside a small plastic bag that had been stuffed into the top of a perfume bottle, officials with the Harris County District Attorney's Office said. Court records show that Ivey has a criminal history in Harris County dating back to 2008 that includes theft and forgery charges. In March, she pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance in an unrelated methamphetamine case and agreed to the two-year sentence, according to court records. Deputy Robert Goerlitz, president of the Harris County Deputies Organization, said he met Valdez after he transferred to District 3 from another patrol division near Humble so he could be closer to home and take the graveyard shift in order to see his son more often.