Widow Of Nevada Firefighter Killed In Crash Talks About Loss

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NEVADA (CBSDFW.COM) - The widow of a Nevada volunteer firefighter is speaking for the first time only to CBS11 News about the crash that killed him and two of their children.

"At the moment I feel like I'm holding up OK," says Courtney Hacking, who found out about the crash that killed her husband Peter, 4-year-old daughter Ellie and 22-month-old son Grayson while teaching at a nearby school.

"The principal came over the intercom and told us to avoid 78, that there's a really bad accident," says Hacking." "I got a call from the fire department chaplain."

Authorities told CBS11 News that Marguerito Quintero was tired from roofing work when his van hit the car of the Nevada volunteer firefighter head on. "This is something that in my opinion was avoidable," says Hacking, "That man took half of my heart that day that I will never get back."

Quintero was arrested for manslaughter. But Texas lawmakers are calling for a federal investigation and immigration hold on him because he was in Texas illegally and even deported once.

Courtney Hacking is angry about that and the road, which took so much from her. "A little girl who was a wonderful big sister, A little boy who never got a chance to grow up. A man who gave more than anyone I've ever seen give before," said Hacking about her loss. "Not a day goes by that I don't hope I'm going to wake up from a really bad dream."

A memorial fund was set up in Hacking's name at Independent Bank for the widow and five remaining children.

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