Families of four women killed after a flat-tire stop on Highway 87 are suing the truck driver and companies they say caused the crash.
HOUSTON — New video has been released of a deadly crash that happened on a Texas highway about two months ago.
Four young women from the Houston area died in the crash, and now, their families are suing those they say are responsible, including H-E-B.
Lakeesha Brown, Brianna Brantley, Myunique Johnson and Taylor White were on their way home from a trip to Colorado on Nov. 5 when they got a flat tire on Highway 87 about 10 miles south of Dalhart in the Texas Panhandle.
According to video from another vehicle, the group of women pulled off the right side of the road and turned on the hazard lights.
“Looks like they were coming from a girls’ trip to Colorado and experienced a flat tire, and so what they did was adhere to traffic laws and slowed down, turned on their hazard lights,” attorney Rodney Jones said.
Jones is representing the families of Brown and Brantley. His office released video showing the crash, and he said it clearly shows that the crash was preventable.
“It leads me to believe that this driver was clearly distracted, grossly negligent. He had ample time,” Jones said.
Texas Department of Public Safety officials said the driver of the 18-wheeler failed to control his speed.
The driver, identified as Guadalupe Villareal, is named in the lawsuit. Officials said he was hauling H-E-B merchandise. Parkway Transit, Inc. and Scrappy Trucking LLC were also named in the lawsuit.
Jones said the families, first and foremost, want justice for their loved ones.
In a statement, H-E-B said the incident involved a third-party vendor driver, not an H-E-B partner.
Villareal, according to DPS, has not been charged in connection with the crash, but the investigation is ongoing.
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