A 13-year-old was driving the pickup truck that crashed into a Ford passenger van carrying six University of the Southwest athletes and their coach on Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said.
The legal driving age in Texas, where the fatal accident took place, is 14 years old. The teen driver has not been named. The crash killed nine people, including the pickup truck driver and a passenger.
NTSB officials said Thursday that the truck’s left front tire, which was a spare, also blew out before impact. The fiery crash was ‘clearly a high-speed collision,’ NTSB Chairman Bruce Landsberg said.
Family members, friends and others who knew the six athletes killed on Tuesday remembered them as ‘great kids and community members’ as tributes continue to pour in for the college golfers.
The students were returning to New Mexico from a tournament in Texas when a Dodge 2500 pickup truck crashed into their Ford passenger van, killing the students and their coach along with the driver of the pickup truck and a 13-year-old boy. Both vehicles caught on fire.
‘We are praying so much for the families of all those other kids,’ said Gary Raines, whose daughter Karisa, 21, died in the accident. ‘Right now we just keep thinking we’re gonna wake up from this terrible nightmare. But it’s not happening.’
‘Karisa was my baby,’ added Sandy, Karisa’s mom, in an interview with the Today show on Thursday. ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do without her.’
The twisted, charred wreckage of a van sits on the side of the road at the scene of a fatal crash in Andrews County, Texas, that killed nine people, including six college golfers from New Mexico
Texas Department of Public Safety said this 2007 Dodge 2500 pickup for an unknown reason went the wrong way and smashed into the van head-on. The driver and passenger of the truck, a 13-year-old boy, died
A fundraiser for funeral expenses for Karisa has raised $12,250 so far.
Local golfers have also set up a memorial at the course where the team practiced. Groundskeepers placed flowers, golf balls and a handmade sign with a Christian cross and the initials USW.
‘We have a memorial. It’s the very least we could to for the players and of course coach James,’ said Rockwind Community Links Manager Ben Kirkes. ‘It’s a tough time.’
Kirkes said he saw the team members nearly every day, and was close with them.
‘These kids were great kids and they were great, great community members,’ Kirkes said. ‘They were polite and they were just a pleasure to be around.’
The parents of USW golfer Karisa Raines, 21, remembered their daughter on Thursday. ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do without her,’ said her mother Sandy (left)
‘We are praying so much for the families of all those other kids,’ said father Gary Raines (right) while on the Today show
A fundraiser for funeral expenses for Karisa has raised $12,250 so far as contributions pour in from across the country
Six USW golfers and their coach died in Texas on Tuesday night when a pickup truck rammed into their van, sending botch vehicles up in flams. Top row (L-R): Coach Tyler James, 26, and golfers Laci Stone, 18, and Karisa Raines, 21. Middle row: Travis Garcia, 19, Mauricio Sanchez, 19, and Tiago Sousa, 18. Bottom: Jackson Zinn, 22
A makeshift memorial was set up at the Rockwind Community Links in Hobbs, New Mexico, where the team practiced. ‘These kids were great kids and they were great, great community members,’ said manager Ben Kirkes
Golf balls adorn the makeshift memorial. ‘It’s the very least we could to for the players and of course coach James,’ said Kirkes. ‘It’s a tough time’
Barry Peters pauses after dropping off flowers at the memorial on Wednesday. Eight of the nine people killed in the crash have been named by officials investigating the tragedy
Eight of the nine people killed in the crash have been named by officials investigating the tragedy, which happened at around 8:17 p.m. on a two-lane road about nine miles from Andrews, Texas, officials say.
The victims include six members of the University of the South West men’s and women’s golf teams, as well as their 26 year-old coach.
Students Laci Stone, 18; Karisa Raines, 21; Mauricio Sanchez, 19, of Mexico; Travis Garcia, 19, of Pleasanton, Texas; Jackson Zinn, 22, of Westminster, Colorado; and Tiago Sousa, 18, of Portugal all died
USW golf coach Tyler James, 26, was also killed.
The driver of the truck that crashed into the students was carrying Henrich Siemens, 38, of Seminole, and an unidentified 13-year-old who was with him. Neither survived.
The two injured students were identified by authorities as Dayton Price of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada; and Hayden Underhill of Amherstview, Ontario, Canada.
‘For unknown reasons, the Dodge pickup drove into the northbound lane and struck the Ford passenger van head on. Both vehicles caught fire and burned,’ the Texas Department of Public Safety said Wednesday.
Stone, 18, wanted to get tiny matching heart tattoos before leaving her Texas hometown and returning to New Mexico to finish out her freshman year at the University of the Southwest.
She begged her mother. And now Chelsi Stone is glad she didn’t chicken out.
‘I’m so forever grateful that God gave me the courage to go through with it and always have this memory with her,’ Chelsi Stone wrote on her Facebook page.
Laci Stone graduated from Nocona High School in Texas last year and was majoring in global business management at USW
Those who knew Coach Tyler James said it had been his goal to be a head coach, and he was excited to be there. ‘That was his dream job, to be a head coach and he was living out his dream,’ said Ryan Erwin, vice president for student engagement and athletics at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall
Those who knew Coach Tyler James said it had been his goal to be a head coach, and he was excited to be there.
‘That was his dream job, to be a head coach and he was living out his dream,’ said Ryan Erwin, vice president for student engagement and athletics at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall.
James graduated from ETBU in May with a master´s of science in kinesiology. While there, he had been the graduate assistant coach for the golf program.
Erwin said James had not only a love for coaching, but for mentoring students as well.
After beginning his college career playing golf at Ottawa University in Kansas, he transferred to Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, according to his biography on the University of the Southwest website.
Troy Drummond, Howard Payne University´s head golf coach and associate athletic director for operations, said James played for three years at Howard Payne and helped coach the team his last year.
‘He had a passion for golf, you could tell that from the very start. He’d pretty much eat, sleep and drink golf,’ Drummond said.
Hayden Underhill, left, and Dayton Price, right were the only two survivors in the USW van
Zinn’s pastor, Rick Long, told Denver’s KUSA-TV that the 22-year-old was a loving and kind person who was very close to his parents and two younger sisters and passionate about helping others. He and his family started a soccer league for special needs children, the station reported.
Zinn, who had a 4.0 GPA, would have loved to play in the PGA but also wanted to manage a large hotel chain, he said.
‘If someone could put everything into 22 years, Jackson did,’ Long said.
Stone’s mother, Chelsi Stone, revealed on Facebook that her daughter was among the dead.
‘I wouldn’t wish this pain on my worst enemy,’ Chelsi Stone wrote in a post. ‘Last night Laci’s golf team was involved in a crash leaving a golf tournament. Our sweet Laci didn’t make it. We are still waiting for a lot of details but as of right now that’s all I have. That our Laci is gone!’
Chelsi added that her late daughter had ‘a heart the size of Texas.’
Relatives of Raines, a 21-year-old junior at USW, said she was ‘a beautiful and kind soul who will be deeply missed by everyone.’
The crash left two other students, Dayton Price, 19, of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and Hayden Underhill, 20, of Amherstview, Ontario, Canada critically injured. Price suffered third-degree burns to nearly half of his body, according to the description of a GoFundMe campaign that has since raised $96,294.
The University of Southwest said in an update early Wednesday morning that the bus was carrying eight members of the men’s and women’s golf teams, and coach Tyler James, who was behind the wheel, when it was struck by a truck head-on in Andrews County on Tuesday night.
Photos taken at the scene during the daytime showed the catastrophic impact of the collision, which has left the charred, mangled remnants of the bus and the pickup truck lying shattered on the side of a rural road.
Two of the eight students from the University of the Southwest who were on board the bus survived and were hospitalized
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers look over the scene of the fatal wreck on Wednesday
Laci Stone, a freshman at the University of the Southwest in New Mexico, has been identified by her mother as one of the six student golfers who died in a fiery crash in Texas on Tuesday
Also killed in the crash was Karisa Raines, 21. She was a junior majoring in biology
Coach Tyler James (right) was in his first season as the head coach of the men’s and women’s golf program
A pickup truck crossed the center line of a two-lane road and smashed into the bus head-on
Sgt. Steven Blanco, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the pickup truck crossed the center line of a two-lane road and smashed into the bus.
Six students and James were killed along with the driver and a passenger in the pickup truck, Blanco said. Two students were taken by helicopter to a Lubbock hospital in critical condition.
Team member Jasmin Collum had been scheduled to play but at the last minute decided instead to visit her parents in Houston, her mother said.
‘Otherwise, who knows?’ Tonya Collum said. ‘I told her God has a plan for her and that’s why she’s OK. We knew all those people on board. Basically the whole team is gone or in the hospital.’
Blanco said the crash occurred at around 8:17 p.m. about nine miles from the city of Andrews, found northwest of Midland-Odessa.
‘Both suffered extremely heavy damage,’ Blanco told NBC affiliate KWES of Midland.
‘It’s a very tragic scene,’ Blanco added. ‘It’s very, very tragic.’
The wreckage of a truck is seen in Andrew County, Texas, late Tuesday following a fatal collision that killed nine people in two vehicles
He said that the university-owned van was travelling from a golf tournament in West Texas, and described it as a passenger van.
The teams had been scheduled to play in a tournament on Tuesday at Midland College, about 315 miles west of Dallas.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it would send a 12-member ‘go team’ to the crash site, including experts in human performance, vehicle and motor carrier factors and accident reconstruction. They were expected to arrive on Wednesday.
‘We’ll try to find out not only what happened, but why it happened, so we can possibly prevent things like this from happening in the future,’ he said.
The golf team was traveling in a 2017 Ford Transit van that was towing a box trailer when it collided with the pickup truck, Weiss said. Both vehicles caught fire after the collision, he said, calling it a ‘high-energy event.’
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said on Facebook that she is ‘deeply saddened’ by the loss of life.
‘This is a terrible accident. As we await additional information from authorities, my prayers are with the community and the loved ones of all those involved,’ she said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also expressed sympathy.
‘We grieve with the loved ones of the individuals whose lives were horrifically taken too soon in this fatal vehicle crash near Andrews last night,’ Abbott said.
According to her biography on the golf team’s page, Laci Stone graduated from Nocona High School in Texas last year and was majoring in global business management at USW. She is survived by her parents, Chelsi and Haydan, and her two siblings, Johnathan and Kaygan.
‘She has been an absolute ray of sunshine during this short time on earth,’ her mom wrote in her Facebook tribute. ‘Haydan, Johnathan, Kaygan and I are absolutely devastated. We will never be the same after this and we just don’t understand how this happened to our amazing, beautiful, smart, joyful girl.’
Laci’s mom, Chelsi (left), on Wednesday shared a photo of her and Laci showing off their new matching heart tattoos
Karisa Raines was a native of Fort Stockton, Texas. She was a junior at the University of the Southwest, majoring in biology. Her dream was to become a forensic scientist. According to her team bio, Raines is survived by her parents and a sibling.
Dayton Price, who is on the men’s golf team, is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Lubbock for third-degree burns. A native of Ontario, Canada, he entered USW as a freshman, majoring in sports management.
University President Quint Thurman said earlier: ‘We are still learning the details about the accident but we are devastated and deeply saddened to learn about the loss of our students’ lives and their coach.’
‘My understanding is that two of our students have survived and have been airlifted to University hospital in Lubbock with serious injuries,’ Thurman added.
‘We would ask for prayers for their recovery and for comfort and strength for all of families and friends and students of those whose lives have been lost.’
Thurman named the coach as Tyler James, who was entering his first season as a coach of the men’s and women’s golf teams, according to an online biography.
The university confirmed the crash in a post of Facebook shortly after midnight on Wednesday, calling the crash ‘fatal’.
University of Southwest’s golfers were returning from a competition in Texas when their bus collided head on with a pickup truck on 1788
The University of the Southwest confirmed the crash in a post on Facebook (pictured)
Pictured: A sign at the University of the Southwest, based in Hobbs, New Mexico (file photo)
‘The University of the Southwest can confirm that there has been a fatal bus accident involving the USW men’s and women’s golf teams,’ the statement said.
‘The university is currently attempting to notify family members of those involved in the accident. Counseling and religious services will be available to students, faculty, and staff on campus. The university will continue to provide additional information as it becomes available,’ it added.
An investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.
James was in his first season as the head coach of the men’s and women’s golf program.
The University of the Southwest is a private, Christian college located in Hobbs, New Mexico, near the state’s border with Texas.
The crash happened in the same area – but not the same roadway – where three people were killed in November when a pickup truck crashed into a school bus carrying members of the Andrews High School band.
The high school’s band director, the school bus driver and the driver of the pickup truck all died in that crash.
Meet the six USW golf team members – and their coach – who died in a fiery crash when their team van collided with a pickup truck in Texas
Tyler James, 26
USW golf coach Tyler James, 26
USW golf coach Tyler James was one of nine people killed in the fiery Texas crash between the van he was driving and a pickup truck which was driving the wrong way.
The aspiring golf coach was entering his first season as a coach of the men’s and women’s golf teams when he was killed in the horror smash.
The University of the Southwest is a private, Christian college located in Hobbs, New Mexico, near the state’s border with Texas.
Laci Stone, 18
Laci Stone, 18
Stone, 18, was returning with her teammates and coach to New Mexico from a tournament in Texas when the crash happened when she was killed, her devastated mom Chelsi Stone said.
‘I wouldn’t wish this pain on my worst enemy,’ Chelsi Stone wrote in a post. ‘Last night Laci’s golf team was involved in a crash leaving a golf tournament. Our sweet Laci didn’t make it. We are still waiting for a lot of details but as of right now that’s all I have. That our Laci is gone!’
Chelsi added that her late daughter had ‘a heart the size of Texas.’
According to her biography on the golf team’s page, Laci Stone graduated from Nocona High School in Texas last year and was majoring in global business management at USW. She is survived by her parents, Chelsi and Haydan, and her two siblings, Johnathan and Kaygan.
‘She has been an absolute ray of sunshine during this short time on earth,’ her mother wrote in her Facebook tribute.
‘Haydan, Johnathan, Kaygan and I are absolutely devastated. We will never be the same after this and we just don’t understand how this happened to our amazing, beautiful, smart, joyful girl.’
Chelsi Stone shared that right before Laci returned to college after a break, she had begged her mom to get matching heart tattoos.
‘I almost chickened out because I’m a baby but I went through with it,’ the grieving mom of three wrote. ‘I’m so forever grateful that God gave me the courage to go through with it and always have this memory with her.’
Karisa Raines, 21
Karisa Raines, 21
Relatives of Raines, a 21-year-old junior at USW, said she was ‘a beautiful and kind soul who will be deeply missed by everyone.’
Karisa Raines was a native of Fort Stockton, Texas. She was a junior at the University of the Southwest, majoring in biology.
Her dream was to become a forensic scientist.
According to her team bio, Raines is survived by her parents and a sibling.
Travis Garcia, 19
Travis Garcia, 19
Travis Garcia, 19, of Pleasanton, Texas, was a 2021 graduate of Pleasanton High School and a freshman student at University of Southwest.
He was voted Pleasanton High School Most Valuable Player in golf at the PHS Athletic Awards Banquet in 2021.
Travis Garcia, a 2021 graduate of Pleasanton High School and a freshman student at University of Southwest was killed in a crash while returning from a golf tournament to Midland College, about 315 miles west of Dallas.
‘The whole Pleasanton ISD community is in shock and grieving for the entire family,’ stated PHS Athletic Director, Tab Dumont.
‘Not only was Travis a phenomenal golfer and great kid, he also comes from a great family. His mother used to work in the district and Travis was doing great things in college and in life. Our prayers go out to Travis, his family and the entire team at the university.’
Mauricio Sanchez, 19
Mauricio Sanchez, 19
Mauricio Sanchez, 19, from Mexico, was named as one of the victims of the horrific crash but no further information has been released about him.
Tiago Sousa, 18
Tiago Sousa, 18
Tiago Sousa, 18, from Portugal, was also named as one of the victims of the horrific crash but no further information has been released about him.
Jackson Zinn, 22
Jackson Zinn was killed in the smash on Wednesday morning
Zinn, of Westminster, Colorado, was a junior at the New Mexico university. He graduated from Ralston Valley High School in 2018, according to his biography on the school’s golf team website.
After high school, he attended New Mexico Military Institute from 2018 to 2019.
He was majoring in hospital management and minoring in sports management at the University of the Southwest.
His bio states that his favorite team was the Denver Broncos.
Hayden Underhill, 20
Hayden Underhill was one of two survivors in the horrific smash
Hayden Underhill, 20, from Amherstview in Ontario, Canada, was one of two survivors in the crash.
Mr Underhill was rushed to hospital and is currently in a critical condition.
Dayton Price, 19
Dayton Price is the other survivor of the Texas crash
Dayton Price, 19, from Mississauga in Ontario, Canada, was the other survivor of the crash and is currently in a critical condition.
A GoFundMe set up to raise money for his medical costs revealed that he suffered third-degree burns to nearly half of his body and doctors are desperately trying to stabilize him.
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