‘The next day is never promised.’ Family mourns Fort Worth teen’s death in motorbike crash
“I love you,” Cristian Lopez said to his mom on the morning of Nov. 14 when she dropped him at school. Later that night, his family was devastated when they searched his last known location and only found pieces of his motorbike.
Cristian, 16, was driving when his motorbike struck a curb and crashed close to the railroad tracks in the 2500 block of Southwest Loop 820, near a Texas Department of Transportation office. He was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital, where he died as a result of the accident, Fort Worth police said.
Cristian’s mother, Cynthia Navarro, was fast asleep when her daughter, Olivia, woke her up after not being able to trace Cristian’s whereabouts on a tracking device. His managers at the Whataburger restaurant where he worked notified the family that he had left a while ago.
The tracker was showing no movement and that is when Olivia decided to go check on her brother. When they arrived at the crash scene, they found only fragments of the motorcycle and one of Cristian’s shoes, Navarro said.
“I’m kind of still in a haze of disbelief, but now that the time to actually do the service is getting here, you have to accept it,” Navarro said. “I’m just like, now he’s coming home, but he’s not.”
Cristian excelled as a junior at Fort Worth’s Trimble Technical High School, where he was pursuing the medical program, and wanted to graduate as a paramedic, Navarro said.
“He was always super excited about his program — it was just his thing,” she said.
Navarro remembers funny conversations with her son, who she said had not had a girlfriend yet and was excited about dating.
Cristian was the middle child, with an older sister and a younger brother. Olivia, 21, worked at his high school and was able to see him every day.
On the night of the accident, Cristian texted her, “Do you think Mom’s gonna get mad if I take the bike out?” She did not recommend that he do so, but he went out with his motorcycle anyway. “Then, I guess be safe,” Olivia said, which was their last conversation.
Olivia said five years younger Cristian sometimes seemed like her elder brother. “Whenever I would go hang out with my friends or my boyfriend, he would always say, ‘Be back home by this time,’” she said.
“Something that we always did together, that I really take into account now is, we were both really fond of sunsets or sunrises, so we would always send each other pictures of the sunset or the sunrise,” Olivia said as she remembered her favorite memories with her brother.
Their mother always told the siblings to stick together and to “never have hate in our heart,” Olivia said.
The family is organizing a benefit event on Sunday, Nov. 24, at Rosemont Park, at 1600 W. Seminary Drive, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The donations at this event will go toward the cremation costs.
“Be safe whether you’re driving or riding a motorcycle or even just walking by yourself, just because the next day is truly never promised, and you never really understand that until it hits you personally,” Olivia said.
His classmates and teachers at Trimble Tech High School also hosted a memorial for Cristian, with balloons outside on the campus on Tuesday, Nov. 20.
Cristian was one of three current and recent students from Fort Worth ISD who died in accidents in the past week.
Apollo Rogers, a 13-year-old student at the Young Men’s Leadership Academy, was walking home with his older sister following an after-school program on Thursday, Nov. 14, and was properly using a crosswalk when Fort Worth police say he was hit by a white Jeep Cherokee. Police are still searching for the hit-and-run driver.
Anuar Rodriguez Gonzalez, 18, who recently graduated from Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School, was killed and two other people were injured when the vehicle they were in collided with a tree in Fort Worth on Nov. 17.
“One thing I would like to say to the kids — us as mothers are here to protect you, rescue you from anything in life, but always keep in mind that your choices have consequences that lead to mistakes that we can’t get you out of,” Navarro said. “Always think before you act.”