It's been almost 13 years since the March 2006 crash at the intersection of Dana Road and FM 802 that took three lives in full bloom.
The crash. according to first responders, was horrific.
Their testimony to a jury that sat on the case involving a drunk driver who was charged with three cases of intoxication manslaughter resulted in his conviction.
A fourth memorial at the same intersection is mute testimony to the hazard the intersection created.
Today, that intersection has a traffic light it did not have before to prevent accidents like the one that took the those lives.
Since then, the victims' relatives have maintained the poignant memorial they erected at the site next to a drainage ditch where the victims' vehicle ended up after being struck by the defendant's car.
As you pass it, you may notice the three crosses standing alongside the right-of-way in a carefully tended site on the side of the road. The fourth is that of an unrelated traffic fatality who perished there.
The defendant now sits in a penitentiary serving four life terms, for all practical purposes, dead to the outside world.
But on that 2006 day the three lives that were lost – one of a Border Patrolman and those of a U.S. Customs agent and her husband – have remained on the minds of their surviving relatives.
Visitors from outside South Texas often comment on the proliferation of roadside memorial markers that dot the roadways here. They say that although memorial markers are also erected in other states, for some reason or other, they are more numerous and ornate here.
A parent's grief – and love – is unending, as can be attested by the well-kept, trimmed corner where one can sometimes see people tending to its upkeep. Holidays, one imagines, are probably worse. Our lasting condolences to them.
4 comments:
Good luck getting one million. They will have hospital bills paid, dr bills, and some pain and suffering. Any more than that is reaching.
el dolor de un padre
Mario Gonzalez used to work at Brownsville Human Resources, then as a Border Patrol, they all will always be remember with fond memories.
Our deepest sympathy to their families and to Mario and his friends may they Rest in Peace.
My condolences to all. My experience is that attorneys take the first bit and that is 35% if settled out of court and 45 to 50% if it goes to trial. They don't take into consideration any type of bills. Going to the hospital is like purchasing a new Cadillac and at the end in reality the only winners here are the attorneys.
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