18-wheeler driver in North Texas crash that killed 5 sentenced to 20 years
The truck driver who was accused of falling asleep and causing a crash that killed five people on Interstate 20 in North Texas last year has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Alexis Osmani Gonzalez-Companioni, 28, of Kissimmee, Florida, pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in a Kaufman County court on Thursday, Star-telegram media partner WFAA-TV reported.
Four victims of the crash were identified as members of the same Fort Worth family, Zabar and Krishaun McKellar, their 15-year-old son Kason, and Zabar’s father Billy McKellar. They were all killed when Gonzalez-Companioni, who was driving an 18-wheeler, fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into their Ford F-150 pickup truck, authorities have said. Their 20-year-old daughter was the only family member to survive the crash, which occurred near Terrell in Kaufman County, the Star-Telegram previously reported.
An investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety determined that eastbound traffic on I-20 was stopped due to a previous crash when Gonzalez-Companioni rear-ended the McKellars’ pickup truck, causing a chain-reaction collision.
Gonzalez-Companioni’s semi-truck hit the McKellars’ pickup, causing it to hit two other semitractor-trailers. The semi- truck then jackknifed and slid from the right lane to the left, causing a collision with three other passenger cars, DPS officials have said.
The fifth victim, Nicole Gregory, 49, of Dallas, was killed inside a separate Jeep Compass while multiple other people were injured.
The trucking company that Gonzalez-Companioni was driving for, Hope Trans LLC, has a history of drivers being repeatedly cited for exceeding the number of allowable hours on the road, the Star-Telegram previously reported.
While the guilty plea from Gonzalez-Companioni concludes the criminal proceedings, legal battles in civil court regarding the deadly crash are still ongoing.