Two S.A. teens among six killed in collision
Two San Antonio teenagers were among six people killed in a wrong-way crash Saturday on Interstate 37 in South Texas.
Helena Dumas, 18, and Trent Edge, 19, were passengers in a Dodge Grand Caravan returning from a Corpus Christi beach. The van was struck head-on by a Toyota Camry driving south in the northbound left lane, according to Sgt. Nathan Brandley of the Texas Highway Patrol.
The fatal collision occurred at approximately 3:33 a.m. on Interstate 37 east of Mathis in San Patricio County.
The driver and all three passengers of the Camry were pronounced dead at the scene. Officials identified the four men as Alice residents Noam Ortiz, 19; Ruben Gonzalez Jr., 24; Julian Reyna, 18; and Kanyon Alegra, 18. Ortiz was driving the car.
Edge was pronounced dead at the scene, while Dumas died Saturday evening at Spohn Shoreline Hospital in Corpus Christi. The male driver of the Grand Caravan, a male passenger, and a female passenger are in stable condition as of Monday.
Investigators are trying to determine why the Camry was driving in the wrong direction. Alcohol did not appear to be a factor at the scene, Brandley said, but a toxicology report will be conducted on the driver. The Camry may have entered the highway at a nearby exit ramp, Brandley said. Police received one call for a wrongway driver two minutes prior to the crash.
Dumas and Edge had traveled to Corpus Christi for the day with a group of friends to visit the beach. They were on their way home when the collision occurred.
“The people in the van, they were just minding their business going home,” Brandley said.
San Patricio County Sheriff Oscar Rivera offered condolences to the families involved and the first responders who “endured an image that will forever be engraved in their minds.”
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers are investigating the crash.