Tragic accident ends in four deaths

Tragedy befell four individuals just after midnight on Saturday, July 16, after they were killed in a head-on accident involving two vehicles on US HWY 90 near Texaco Road in Liberty.

According to Lt. Chip Fairchild with the Liberty Police Department, Tomas Martinez, 47, was driving westbound in his Ford F-150 truck in the eastbound lanes before killing himself, a female passenger in his vehicle, and two other people in a Jeep Cherokee.

The driver of the Jeep was Danielle Morgan, 30, of Liberty, who was unable to avoid the oncoming vehicle. Morgan’s boyfriend was also killed in the accident; he is identified as Hunter Poole, 27, out of Georgia.

Fairchild said witness reports of drivers in two other vehicles saw the vehicle driving the wrong way and were able to avoid a collision, but Morgan was unable to avoid the vehicle.

Martinez, Morgan, and Poole were all pronounced dead at the scene by Liberty County Justice of the Peace Pct. 4 Larry Wilburn.

Martinez’s female passenger, a 54-year-old woman from Guatemala, was airlifted to a trauma center in Houston, where she died.

“It was just a very sad deal and traumatizing for everyone that was involved,” said Fairchild.

Fairchild believes that alcohol may have been a factor in the accident.