Arlington teens, Grand Prairie woman killed in crash in East Texas

Two Arlington Lamar High School students, Faith Whittaker and Jessica Brown, were killed in a car accident early Monday morning, according to the school and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

They were traveling in east Texas a mile east of Lindale with a Grand Prairie woman, 36-year-old Chelsey Elizabeth Brewer, who was also killed, the DPS said.

Brewer, who was driving the three in a 2016 Jeep Renegade on Interstate 20, struck a parked truck with a semi-trailer at about 4:20 a.m., the DPS said.

The teens, both age 16, were pronounced dead at the scene, while Brewer was transported to UT Health Tyler, where she was pronounced dead, the DPS said.

It was not immediately clear why the three were traveling in East Texas. A school district spokeswoman told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA that Whittaker was involved in sports medicine and that Brown was involved in culinary arts, and that they were both juniors.

Texas deputies said Joseph Allen Battis, 31, of Milton, Florida was asleep in the truck and was not injured.

The truck was parked legally on the side of the road, they said.

Arlington ISD did not immediately reply to requests for more information.

The high school said it would make counselors available on campus Tuesday.

The crash remains under investigation, said Sgt. Jean Dark of the DPS.

This story was originally published October 16, 2018 at 1:25 PM.