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A judge ruled Friday that a Texas teenager known for using an "affluenza" defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck will remain at a juvenile detention facility until a hearing next month. Ethan Couch, 18, was deported a day earlier from Mexico, where authorities believe he and his mother fled as Texas prosecutors investigated whether he violated his probation in the 2013 wreck.
Here is a timeline of events in the case:
- June 15, 2013: Four people are killed when a pickup truck driven by 16-year-old Ethan Couch swerves off a road south of Fort Worth, Texas. Couch's blood-alcohol level is three times the legal limit for driving. The victims are a woman whose vehicle was disabled on the side of the road and three people helping her. Two of the seven passengers in Couch's truck are severely injured.
- Dec. 4, 2013 - Couch "admitted his guilt" in juvenile court in four cases of intoxication manslaughter and two cases of intoxication assault, according to the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office.
- Dec. 10, 2013: A defense witness testifies during Couch's sentencing that the teen's wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility, a condition the psychologist termed "affluenza." Couch is later ordered to rehab and sentenced to 10 years' probation, which prosecutors and law enforcement blasted as too weak.
- Feb. 5, 2014 - A juvenile court judge sets probation conditions that include barring Couch from driving and from drinking alcohol or using drugs.
- August 2015 - Couch's father files for divorce, a year after he and his wife stopped living together as a couple. Fred and Tonya Couch originally married in 1996. They divorced 10 years later, but then remarried in April 2011.
- On or about Dec. 2, 2015 - A video surfaces that shows Ethan Couch at a party where alcohol was being served. Drinking alcohol would be a violation of his probation.
- Dec. 3, 2015 - Couch is contacted by his probation officer and told to report for a drug test. His mother withdraws $30,000 from her personal account. On or around the same date, mother and son hold a gathering in which they talk about going to Mexico, and Fred Couch tells authorities that Tonya Couch had called to tell him he would never see their son again.
- Dec. 10, 2015 - Ethan Couch, who is now 18, misses a mandatory appointment with his probation officer.
- Dec. 11, 2015 - A directive to apprehend Couch for a probation violation is issued.
- Dec. 16, 2015 - Authorities publicly announce they're investigating whether Couch fled with his mother in an attempt to avoid facing accusations that he may have violated his probation.
- Dec. 28, 2015 - Ethan Couch and Tonya Couch are taken into custody in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta, a few days after a call for pizza delivery tipped off authorities to their whereabouts. Texas authorities issue an arrest warrant for Tonya Couch.
- Dec. 30, 2015 - Tonya Couch is deported, but a Mexican judge decides to delay Ethan Couch's deportation. Tonya Couch arrives on a flight early the next morning in Los Angeles, where she is taken to jail.
- Jan. 7, 2016 - Law enforcement officers accompany Tonya Couch as she is flown back to Texas. She is booked at the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth.
- Jan. 8, 2016 - Tonya Couch is arraigned on a charge of hindering the apprehension of a felon. Her bond is set at $1 million.
- Jan. 11, 2016 - A judge lowers Tonya Couch's bond to $75,000. She posts the bond the next day and is released to live with another son, after being fitted with an electronic ankle GPS monitor.
- Jan. 17, 2016 - Ethan Couch's attorney in Mexico files a document seeking to lift the injunction that has kept him in Mexico.
- Jan. 25, 2016 - Ethan Couch formally ratifies his decision to drop an appeal against deportation.
- Jan. 28, 2016 - Ethan Couch is deported and flown on a commercial flight from Mexico City to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. He is booked at a juvenile detention facility.
- Jan. 29, 2015: A judge refuses to move Couch to an adult jail to await a February hearing that could determine whether his case is transferred to the adult system, where Couch could face time behind bars.
