FORNEY, Texas — A Forney woman was killed in a crash on eastbound U.S. Highway 80 Monday afternoon when the vehicle she was traveling in rear-ended an 18-wheeler who had stopped to aid another motorist, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).
The crash was reported at 3:10 p.m. on eastbound U.S. Highway 80 just east of Windmill Farms Boulevard in between Forney and Terrell.
Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Kyle Bradford says an 18-wheeler was traveling eastbound on the highway when the driver observed a vehicle in his rear-view mirror spin out behind his tractor-trailer. The 18-wheeler, thinking there was a crash, pulled over to the side of the road to check on a woman whose tire had blown on her vehicle causing her to swerve off the highway.
Bradford says that's when witnesses heard screeching just before a 2002 silver Dodge pickup rear-ended the 18-wheeler which was pulled to the shoulder but partially in the roadway.
The driver of the pickup truck, identified by police as 37-year-old Johnny Harris of Forney, Texas, was flown by CareFlite medical helicopter to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas, with what police described as non-life threatening injuries. The passenger in the pickup truck, identified by police as 36-year-old Kim Harris of Forney, Texas, was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating the crash and utilized a helicopter for aerial photography of the crash scene.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is asking any witness to the crash to contact the Terrell DPS office at (972) 551-7700.
