One Mineral Wells High School Student is dead and two others injured in Hood County two-vehicle accident
HOOD COUNTY—Mineral Wells High School senior Jose Hernandez, 19, was looking forward to graduating, becoming a welder and providing for his parents, when a two-vehicle accident in Hood County cut his life short, May 23.
Hernandez played on the school’s football team, loved trucks and was a huge fan of the Dallas Cowboys, his sister-in-law Yesenia Mejia added.
“He was really hardworking, loving and caring,” Mejia said. “He always tried to help in any way.”
The Hood County crash on Farm-to-Market Road also sent two of Hernandez’s classmates to the hospital, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The other students, Korbin Williams and George Velazquez, both 18, landed in the ICU as a result of the accident that took place around 10:30 p.m. at mile marker 313, DPS said.
Williams underwent a successful surgery and was released from the hospital on May 26, MWISD Superintendent David Tarver told the Palo Pinto Press. Doctors were expected to discharge Velazquez later in the week, he added.
Williams was driving a 2004 Ford Explorer Pickup northwest on FM 4 when he lost control of the truck while navigating a curve and crossed the double yellow lines, according to DPS Sgt. William Lockridge.
A 2024 Kia Telluride, driven by Marlen Banuelos, 34, of Lubbock, struck the pickup, causing damage to the right passenger side, he added.
Samuel Fry, 34, and Amayah Fry, 2, also from Lubbock, were passengers in the Kia, DPS reported. The toddler was taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth. Her condition has not been released.
Troopers said all those involved, except Hernandez, were wearing seatbelts. The little girl was in a child safety seat, Lockridge noted. The speed limit is 70 mph on that stretch of FM 4, he added.
Reports state Hernandez was pronounced dead by Justice of the Peace Jeff Kelly. Mejia said the teens were on their way home from a graduation ceremony in Granbury when the accident occurred.
“These tragedies are moments you never want to deal with as a school district, a parent, as a community in general,” Tarver said at a candlelight service and fundraiser for the victims’ families at Our Lady of Lourdes Prayer Garden, May 26. “But it’s an opportunity to show the overwhelming love and support the community has… where people truly pull together and show the best part of humanity.”
Dozens turned out for the event to remember Hernandez, pray for the other victims and offer condolences. The line stretched out the door, around the corner and down the block with people waiting to show their support.
“It’s so hard because they’re so young and they’re going to graduate and they have all their hopes and wishes,” family friend Alma Lozano said. “It’s all in Jesus’s hands now.”
Hernandez is survived by his parents Estella and Placido, four brothers, a sister and a large circle of friends, she added. Tarver referred to all three students as “phenomenal kids.”
Counseling services were offered to MWHS after the accident and will continue to be available “for anybody who needs it,” Tarver said.
The crash investigation is ongoing, according to DPS.
