A driver accused in a North Richland Hills hit-and-run that killed a 16-year-old was released from jail after his bond amount was reduced by 80%, according to Tarrant County court documents.

Fernando Peralta Berrios, a previous Fort Worth City Council candidate and the former head of Las Familias de Rosemont neighborhood association, is charged with one count of intoxication manslaughter and one count of collision involving personal injury or death, both second-degree felonies.

Authorities said 16-year-old Luis Anthony Luna was hit by Peralta Berrios around 8:45 p.m. on May 16, when the teen was walking in the 8600 block of Airport Freeway. Police received a call that a car hit a pedestrian and then fled the scene. Luna was taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, where he died.

Peralta Berrios’ bond was initially set at $500,000 for all combined charges, but his attorneys argued in court documents that it was an unreasonable amount. On Friday, a magistrate reduced the bond to $100,000, which the defendant has posted, according to court records.

Records showed Peralta Berrios was no longer in jail on Wednesday.

He ran for the District 9 City Council seat in the 2021 election and lost in a runoff to Elizabeth Beck.

An email from the suspected drunk driver’s attorneys to Tarrant County Magistrate Judge Rainey Webb mentioned that Peralta Berrios, 32, is a former council candidate who they said “has strong ties to the community,” according to a series of emails reviewed by The Dallas Morning News. Those emails have since been sealed from public view in the court record, after attorneys filed a motion stating that the messages contain private information about their client, such as his employment history and financial situation.

Peralta Berrios was arrested with assistance from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, police said. His attorneys said he turned himself in on June 2.

One of his lawyers, Frank Sellers, told The Morning News, “While our team is actively investigating, we have not received any discovery or reports, so do not know much at this point. … We do know this: Mr. Peralta Berrios is a good man, father, and soldier. And he is presumed innocent unless a jury says otherwise.”