Burnett County crash: Kody Lane Talley, 37, of Leander, Texas is charged with 5 counts of manslaughter after crashing his car into a vehicle with five women from Dallas, killing them who were on a trip to celebrate the birthday of the driver. The indicted driver fled the scene before he could be tested for alcohol or drugs and only arrested 2 weeks later.
A Texas man has been charged nearly two weeks after allegedly causing a car crash that killed five Dallas women (all in their 20’s) who were celebrating a birthday trip and then fleeing the scene.
Kody Lane Talley, 37, of Leander, TX, is accused of careening his pickup truck into a SUV vehicle with the 5 women on July 25th after crossing his vehicle into oncoming traffic on U.S 281 around 6 p.m in Burnett County.
Kody Talley flees Burnett County crash before tested for DUI
Talley who was pulling a livestock trailer struck a Chevy Malibu before colliding with the five women’s Mercedes SUV, leading to that vehicle to overturn and catch fire, killing all five people inside.
The victims have since been identified by the Texas Department of Public Safety as Thalia Salinas, Ruby Cruz, Brianna Valadez, Desiree Cervantez and Jacqueline Velazco, according to KTBC.
Salinas was behind the wheel, and was taking her friends on a lakefront vacation to celebrate her 23rd birthday, where her family was planning to meet them.
Drivers of the other vehicles that were hit survived with only minor injuries, police said.
Talley’s truck later crashed into the fence, where he ditched it and left the scene, according to officials. He was not tested for drugs or alcohol the day of the crash.
Kody Talley, 37, of Williamson County was arrested on Tuesday, Aug. 5. He was charged with with five counts of manslaughter and remains held at at the Burne County Jail.
The best friends were on a weekend trip to Kingsland to celebrate Salinas’ 23rd birthday. In a statement to CBS News, Salinas’ family said they had been friends since middle school.
5 Dallas best friends were heading for birthday weekend celebrations
‘Words can’t describe how devastated we are,’ the statement read. ‘We were en route to celebrate Thalia’s birthday in Kingsland, Texas, at her favorite place — on the lake — with all her favorite people. Then we got news of the girls’ passing away in the worst accident we could ever imagine. We will never recover from losing Thalia, Brianna, Ruby, Jackie and Desi.’
In a separate Facebook post, a family member of Salinas called the women’s deaths a ‘sudden and very tragic passing’ and writing that the family was ‘incredibly grateful for the outpouring of love, kind messages, and support during this time.’
GoFundMe campaigns have since been shared for all five women, with the Salinas family revealing that Thalia had just become an aunt and was ‘witty, intelligent, loyal, and the true manager of our household, always keeping us all in line.’
‘She was an amazing daughter, sister, niece, aunt, granddaughter, coworker and friend to SO many that loved her,’ the GoFundMe continued. ‘She was full of life, and this loss has left a void that can never be filled.’
The family of Valadez, who was about to begin nursing school, wrote on GoFundMe that they were ‘navigating a pain that words can’t truly express.’
‘We will carry Bri’s light with us always, and we will keep telling her story—because she deserves to be remembered for how brightly she lived.’
The five names of the women now appear written on custom hearts, displayed along the crash site. An investigation into the crash is ongoing.
