Central Texas man charged in fiery crash that killed 5 Dallas-area women on birthday trip, DPS says
A Central Texas man is facing five counts of manslaughter after a fiery crash near Austin last month killed five Dallas-area women on a birthday trip, authorities said Wednesday.
Kody Lane Talley, 37, of Leander, was taken into custody by the Texas Department of Public Safety and subsequently booked into the Burnet County Jail.
Crash occurred on July 25 near Austin
According to DPS, the crash happened about 6 p.m. on July 25 on U.S. 281 near Park Road 4 in Burnet County. Talley was driving a 2018 Ram 4500 pickup truck pulling a livestock trailer northbound when he veered into the southbound lanes.
DPS said his truck struck a Chevrolet Malibu head-on, then collided with a Mercedes SUV, which overturned and caught fire.
Five friends killed on birthday trip
All five occupants of the SUV — Thalia Salinas, Ruby Cruz, Brianna Valadez, Desiree Cervantez, and Jacqueline Velazco Ventura — were pronounced dead at the scene.
The victims, all in their early 20s, were on a weekend trip to the Central Texas community of Kingsland to celebrate Salinas' 23rd birthday.
Families mourn loss of "sisters"
Salinas' family told CBS News Texas the five were like sisters and had been friends since middle school.
"Words can't describe how devastated we are," the family said in a statement. "We were en route to celebrate Thalia's birthday in Kingsland, Texas, at her favorite place — on the lake — with all her favorite people. Then we got news of the girls' passing away in the worst accident we could ever imagine. We will never recover from losing Thalia, Brianna, Ruby, Jacki,e and Desi."
Community support grows through donations
GoFundMe accounts have been established for each of the five families to help cover funeral and memorial expenses.
The investigation into the crash is continuing, DPS said.