Four Dead in Two West Texas Crashes Friday Night

Four people died in two crashes on west Texas highways, Texas DPS reported this morning.

The first fatal crash was four miles northwest of Seminole on U.S. 62. There, the driver of a Mazda 3 with two unrestrained occupants drifted off the side of the road and rolled. The backseat passenger was ejected, DPS reported.

That passenger was identified as Martha Cruz, 53, of Seagraves. Driving was 24-year-old Desiree Lynn Cruz of Seagraves.

Two other passengers were seriously injured. They were Jose Cruz, Jr, 49, and a six-year-old female child, both of Seagraves.

DPS reported that only the child was properly restrained.

The crash happened Sept. 4 at 8:37 p.m. The roadway was dry and the skies clear, DPS reported.

The approximate location of this crash:

Minutes earlier, at 8:31 p.m. one mile west of Stanton on I-20, a second crash killed three.

According to the DPS, Chase Lucas Crutchfield, 19, of Midland failed to maintain a single lane of traffic while driving his 1999 Dodge Ram pickup. He crossed the center median into the westbound traffic.

Traveling westbound at that same time was a 2001 Jeep Cherokee with three occupants. The two vehicles collided. DPS said that the Jeep hit the Dodge in the side.

The occupants of the Jeep all died on the scene. They were Andres  Madrid Chavez, 56, of Tulsa; Eleazar Madrid Perez, 33, of Broken Arrow, Okla.; and Rosa Maria Perez De Madrid, 59, also of Tulsa. Andres was the driver.

DPS reported that Crutchfield was treated at the scene and released.

The approximate location of this crash:

DPS reported that the roadway was dry and the skies were clear. In the Stanton crash, everyone was wearing a seatbelt.