South Fort Worth Wreck Kills Four and Injures Nine

In one of the worst local vehicle collision cases I can remember, a catastrophe unfolded late Saturday night when three Good Samaritans — a mother and her daughter who lived in a house at the side of the collision site and a youth minister driving back to his church after his son had graduated from high school were killed, along with the driver of the stranded vehicle. Nine others were seriously injured. What a nightmare.

According to news media, just before midnight in the 1500 block of Burleson-Retta Road, next to the Southern Oaks Golf Course and near the Spinks Airport, several vehicles stopped to help out a motorist whose SUV was disabled in the road. That is so typical of the spirit of the people who live here, wanting to help others, day and night.

Unfortunately investigators believe a chain reaction occured when two oncoming trucks hit the SUV and the assembled pedestrians and also clipped a car approaching in the other direction.

Alcohol may have been a factor in the wreck.

Police are still investigating and no criminal charges have been yet filed. The road was shut down Sunday as police attempted to recreate the collision and gather evidence.

Nine other people, eight from area schools riding in a pickup truck driven by a 17 year old, were injured in the wreck. Two of them are apparently in critical condition.

The road is dark and narrow and many people far exceed the posted limit of 40 miles per hour.

The deceased were loved by all: Brian Jennings, the youth minister at Alsbury Baptist Church, husband, and father of three children, Hollie Boyles, 52, and her daughter Shelby Boyles, 21, and Breanna Mitchell, the driver of the SUV.

My thoughts are with the families and survivors of this horrible collision.

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