2 Teens Killed 2 Injured in Accident Following Chase

KILGORE — An accident just before midnight Friday morning has left 2 East Texas teenagers dead and two more are in the hospital. D.P.S. Staff Sergeant Jean Dark told KTBB on Friday, “for a yet to be determined reason, the driver of that vehicle chose to evade officers.” The wreck took place at the intersection of FM 349 and US 259 in Kilgore at 11:56 p.m. 17-year-olds Gabriel Coronado and Braden Jones were killed as a result of the wreck, and 2 other teens were transported to a Kilgore hospital.

Sergeant Dark continued, “the mechanics of the accident are that the driver disregarded a red light, and struck the trailer a semi- trailer combination.” The vehicle struck Michael James Wright’s truck. James was uninjured in the wreck. Coronado was pronounced dead at the scene, Jones was taken to Good Shepard Medical Center in Kilgore where he died. Two other teenagers who were backseat passengers in Coronado’s car were injured and were taken to Good Shepard Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries in Kilgore. Their identities have not been released. Dark said that troopers tried to pull over Coronado’s car on I-20, but they chose to flee the scene. It is unknown at this time why they did not stop. Coronado exited the interstate on FM 2087 and then turned south onto FM 349, where they later crashed. The wreck remains under investigation.