Fatal Wrong-Way Crash Investigated
Posted/updated on: June 3, 2012 at 5:31 pm
LINDALE — Investigators on Friday were trying to determine why a Lindale woman was driving the wrong way on Interstate 20 late Wednesday when her pickup crashed into oncoming traffic, leaving five people dead. According to the Longview News-Journal, Krystle Dawn Carranza, 27, her three young daughters and Fred Ulysses Hammett Jr., 70, of Ramona, Calif., were killed in the collision near Mesquite. Authorities said vehicles driven by Carranza and Hammett burst into flames upon impact.
Wood County Sheriff’s Department records indicate Carranza had been arrested three times since 2005, once for driving while intoxicated on April 27, 2006. Investigators said they had not determined whether alcohol was involved in Wednesday’s crash. Authorities said Carranza nearly hit a state trooper minutes earlier. Family members said Carranza may have been going to see her husband, Joe Carranza, who works in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The children have been identified as 5-year-old Nevaeh, 3-year-old Delaney and 10-month-old Aleah. In a prepared statement, Lindale ISD officials said they were stunned and saddened by the loss.
