Three siblings and one of their friends were killed in Texas this weekend when the car driven by their mother was hit by a driver who authorities believe may have been distracted by a cell phone.
The New York Post reports that the three siblings — Tiffany Williams, 17, Michael G. Williams, and Danielle Williams, 12 — along with a family friend, 19-year-old Peyton Mackenzie Irwin were in a car in Bastrop, Texas, on Friday on their way to a dance competition when another vehicle rear-ended the car driven by the siblings’ mother, killing the four passengers.
The siblings were reportedly pronounced dead at the scene, and their mother, Pamela Mary Williams, 53, was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
Williams’s son Jeremy Bowens told KHOU that he had to break the tragic news to his mother that three of her children were killed in the accident.
“It’s just really hard to find the words to console her,” Bowens said. “It’s still so early and we’re trying to deal with the shock of it.”
The family lives in Hunstville, Texas, which the New York Post reports is about two hours away from the crash site, where the Williams siblings were enrolled in schools in the Huntsville Independent School District.
The school district released a statement about the tragedy on its Facebook page, which reads in part:
“The Huntsville ISD community is deeply saddened to learn of the deaths of three of our students and one former student as a result of a car accident that occurred in Bastrop County late Friday evening. The three HISD students were siblings: an 11th grader at Huntsville High School, an 8th grader at Mance Park Middle School and a 6th grader at Huntsville Intermediate School. The former student was a 2018 graduate of Huntsville High School and family friend. All were traveling with the mother of the siblings to San Antonio to watch an older sibling perform with the Huntsville High School Grenadier Guard Drill Team at Nationals Competition.”
According to the report in the Austin American-Statesman, the Texas Department of Public Safety said that the driver of the vehicle that hit that car driven by Williams did not brake until 0.6 seconds prior to impact, and that authorities believe the driver may have been distracted by a cell phone.
At this time, no arrests have been made.
A family friend has reportedly set up a GoFundMe to raise financial support for surviving family members.
[Feature image: Williams family/GoFundMe]
