DPS RELEASES NAMES OF 3 KILLED IN CRASH NEAR NAVASOTA

  

Police have released the identities of those killed in last (Thursday) night’s auto accident near Navasota.

The deceased have been identified as 18-year-old Keaton Anthony Bussell from Montgomery, who was driving a 2001 Dodge pickup; 55-year-old Richard Michael Thomas of College Station, driving a 2013 Chevrolet van; and 36-year-old Jessie Conzalo Gallegos of Bryan, a passenger of the van.

No updates have been given on the six remaining van passengers, who were also injured in the accident.

The deadly crash occurred around 6:30 a.m. yesterday (Thursday), on Highway 105 East at County Road 362—near the St. Martinville Baptist Church.  According to Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell, Bussell was headed west on Highway 105 when he crossed into the eastbound lane, in a no-passing zone, and collided head-on with Thomas’ vehicle.

A second pickup suffered minor damage in the crash.  Bussell’s pickup caught fire after hitting the van.  The Navasota Fire Department was called upon to put out the flames.

Bussell and Thomas, along with the passenger Gallegos, were pronounced dead on the scene.

Another passenger in the van was air-lifted to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, and is currently in critical condition.  The remaining five passengers were injured.  Three were taken by ambulance to CHI St. Joseph Hospital in Bryan, and two were taken to Baylor Scott & White Hospital in College Station.

As DPS troopers investigated, traffic on Highway 105 East was diverted onto County Road 362.  Drivers from Highway 6 were also diverted.