Two people killed while trimming trees in Arlington following severe storms, police say
Following severe storms in North Texas, two people were killed in separate incidents while trimming trees in Arlington, according to police.
The first incident happened Saturday at a home in the 4700 block of Belle Point Court, killing 20-year-old Carl Blaylock III. According to Arlington police, Blaylock was up in a tree with a chainsaw when he hit a power line and was electrocuted.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officers at the scene had to keep family members back from the tree while firefighters worked to get his body down, police say.
On Tuesday, officers responded to a home in the 5900 block of Flintshire Court after receiving reports of a tree falling on a woman.
When officers arrived at the home, family members said that the woman and her boyfriend were trying to trim a tree that had fallen on their roof. While they were attempting to cut the tree, one of the limbs snapped and hit the woman, causing her to fall to the ground, according to police.
First responders pronounced the woman dead at the scene. The medical examiner identified her as 62-year-old Lucia Gonzalez Layman. She died due to a blunt force injury to the head and the manner of her death was ruled an accident.
Police say there are no signs of foul play or criminal element in either death.
The incidents followed several rounds of storms in North Texas over the past two weeks. A deadly tornado hit Cooke and Denton counties on Saturday, killing seven people, injuring about 100 and damaging hundreds of buildings. High winds and hail were also reported in the Dallas-Fort Worth area earlier this week, leading to widespread power outages from downed trees and power lines.
A family member organized a GoFundMe to help fund the funeral services for Blaylock and to provide financial support for his unborn child.
“Life can be so tragic,” wrote Blaylock’s step-grandmother, Lynn Amante, in the fundraiser description. Blaylock’s uncle was helping him trim trees when the accident happened, according to Amante.
“Words cannot express what a good young man Trey was. He has been in our lives since he was a young child,” the GoFundMe reads.
Of a $10,000 goal, $8,420 had been raised as of Thursday.
This story was originally published May 30, 2024 at 5:36 PM.
