An investigator at the scene says the big rig driver “informed me that he fell asleep and woke up to a loud bang.”
FORT WORTH, Texas — The arrest affidavit for the truck driver accused of causing the horrific wreck on I-20 this past Saturday describes in explicit detail the human cost of the multiple vehicle incident. Meanwhile, multiple families are suffering from what they lost, what they witnessed, and the physical and emotional pain still to come.
In the initial report from investigators at the crash scene, they write that the semi was traveling at highway speeds. The posted speed limit in the area of the crash is 75 mph. An investigator at the scene wrote that they “did not see any brake or skid marks on the ground,” indicating that the driver of the tractor-trailer did not apply the brakes.
Witnesses say traffic was stopped on I-20, and the tractor-trailer first hit the McKellar family’s F-150, crushing it and immediately killing Jabar McKellar, his wife Krishaun, their son Kason, and grandfather Billy McKellar. The only survivor in that vehicle, 20-year-old Evan McKellar, had a foot amputated in the crash. She remains in critical condition in the ICU at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
“We ask that the metroplex keep Evan in prayer,” said Bishop Rodney McIntosh, who was asked to speak for the McKellar family of Fort Worth. “She has a long road ahead of her as well, so make sure you keep Evan McKellar lifted up in prayer if you are a person of prayer. It will be greatly appreciated.”
Investigators say a fifth victim, 49-year-old Nicole Gregory of Dallas, was killed when the semi jackknifed and crushed her car.
The driver of the big rig, Alexis Osmani Gonzalez-Companioni, is in jail in Kaufman County and charged with five counts of manslaughter and now four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The affidavit states that the big rig driver told investigators he “fell asleep and woke up to a loud bang.”
“The family is obviously devastated,” said attorney John Nohinek with the Witherite Law Group, who has been hired to represent members of the McKellar family. “They essentially lost three generations… The driver should have pulled over. The driver should have got out of the way, pulled over, got off duty and rested, but instead he kept going and led to this horrific, horrific wreck.”
McIntosh says that funeral plans and preparations for a public vigil are in the works for the McKellar family. A GoFundMe account established Tuesday for the ongoing medical care for Evan McKellar has raised more than $38,000 in its first 24 hours.
“So on behalf of the family, we just want to say thank you for the support that DFW has shown his family, and it’s definitely appreciated,” Bishop McIntosh said. “They’ve got a long road ahead of them. But definitely believe that with this community and the love that they’ve been shown, they’ll make it through it.”