4 family members killed in Texas crash caused by street racing; racers face charges in their deaths

Two men in Texas are accused of racing sports cars on Saturday and causing a fiery crash that killed four people from one family, authorities said.

The fatal crash occurred Saturday at about 8:15 p.m. on South Belt Line Road in Grand Prairie, a suburb of Dallas, police said in a statement.

That’s when two drivers, one behind the wheel of a red Dodge Charger and the other driving a white Dodge Charger Daytona, were racing as a Chevrolet Traverse turned left onto Kingston Drive and collided with the red Charger, police said.

Three occupants in the Traverse were pronounced dead on the scene. A fourth occupant later died at a hospital, and a fifth occupant was in critical condition as of Sunday, police said.

The white Charger fled the crash site, police said.

NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reported five members of a family were in the Traverse. Jessie and Lorena Rosales, the parents, died on the scene. Two of their children also died: 13-year-old Stephanie and 6-year-old Angel. A third child, who is 16 years old, survived but was in critical condition, the news outlet reported.

Video taken by witnesses at the scene showed the aftermath of the collision: one car flipped on its side and engulfed in flames, while another had its front end smashed from the force of the wreck, according to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.

The driver of the red Charger, Jaime Mesa, 20, was hospitalized with injuries that were not considered life threatening, police said. He was facing recommended charges of four counts of racing on a highway causing death, four counts of manslaughter, one count of racing on a highway causing serious bodily injury, and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, police said.

The motorist who drove away from the scene, Anthony Morales, 22, was arrested Sunday on recommended charges of four counts of racing on a highway causing death, and one count of racing on the highway causing serious bodily injury, police said.

It was not clear on Thursday afternoon if Mesa or Morales had retained attorneys.

The crash remained under investigation, police said.

Yvette Acosta told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth she heard screams coming from the victims’ vehicle.

“I haven’t been able to sleep well because of it,” she said. “I can hear that, and just seeing them and not being able to help them, it’s very devastating.”

Acosta told the news outlet street racing was never a big issue when she moved to the area 25 years ago, but it is now, especially near where the crash occurred.

“Belt Line and 14th Street are the main ones where they’re always racing,” she said. “You’re putting people at danger. You’re killing people. If they can think of their own family, what about if this was your family? What if this was your family, how would you feel?”