9 dead in Texas crash involving U. of Southwest golf teams
HOBBS, N.M. — Nine people have died in a fiery, head-on collision in West Texas, including six New Mexico university students and a coach returning from a golf tournament, as well as a 13-yearold boy, authorities said.
Those killed in the Tuesday evening crash included University of the Southwest students from Portugal and Mexico. Two Canadian students were hospitalized in critical condition.
A pickup truck crossed the center line of a two-lane road in Andrews County, about 30 miles east of the New Mexico state line, and crashed into a van carrying members of the university’s men’s and women’s golf teams, said Sgt. Steven Blanco of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The state agency later identified the deceased as: Golf coach Tyler James, 26, of Hobbs, New Mexico; and players Mauricio Sanchez, 19, of Mexico; Travis Garcia, 19, of Pleasanton, Texas; Jackson Zinn, 22, of Westminster,
Colorado; Karisa Raines, 21, of Fort Stockton, Texas; Laci Stone, 18, of Nocona, Texas; and Tiago Sousa, 18, of Portugal.
Also killed were Henrich Siemans, 38, of Seminole County, Texas, and an unidentified 13-year-old boy who had been traveling with him in the 2007 Dodge 2500 pickup.
Critically injured aboard the van were Canadian students Dayton Price, 19, of Mississauga, Ontario, and Hayden Underhill, 20, of Amherstview, Ontario. Both were taken by helicopter to the University Medical Center in Lubbock, about 110 miles to the northeast.
Underhill’s brother Drew said their parents, Ken and Wendy, were on a plane headed to Texas.
“Hockey was a big part of life for a while, but his true passion is golf,” Drew Underhill said. “From a small town in Ontario, he’s doing OK.”
The Mexican Federation of Golf posted an online note of condolence to the loved ones of Mauricio Sanchez.
Stone’s mother wrote of her loss on Facebook Wednesday.
“She has been an absolute ray of sunshine during this short time on earth,” Chelsi Stone said in a post. “… We will never be the same after this and we just don’t understand how this happened to our amazing, beautiful, smart, joyful girl.”
Stone graduated in 2021 from Nocona High School, where she played golf, volleyball and softball. She was a freshman majoring in global business management, according to her biography on the golf team’s website.
James’ mother, June James, said she knew little about the circumstances of the collision. He coached the men and the women.
“We don’t know what happened. It’s a huge investigation. We don’t have any idea as of yet,” James said during a brief phone interview.
Team member Jasmin Collum had been scheduled to play but at the last minute decided instead to visit her parents in Houston, her mother said.
“We knew all those people on board,” Tonya Collum said. “Basically the whole team is gone or in the hospital.”