Community mourns 3 Fort Worth teens after crash
BY JACK HOWLAND
AUGUST 28, 2019 10:52 AM, UPDATED AUGUST 28, 2019 06:23 PM
FORT WORTH
More than a week after two 2019 graduates of Trimble Tech High School were killed in a crash, a third graduate who was in the car has died of her injuries.
And a community of people are mourning the loss of the girls whose lives were cut short.
Natalie Melissa Castro, 18, died Tuesday morning in Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. Her cause of death has yet to be determined.
Her classmates Yosmeri Mendez, 18, and Dianaluisa Lopez, 18, were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on South Riverside Drive, according to medical examiner records. All three girls graduated from Trimble Tech in June, a Fort Worth Independent School District spokesman confirmed. Two other teens who graduated from the same school were injured in the accident.
Families of Mendez and Lopez hosted funerals for the girls last Thursday in Fort Worth, according to online obituaries. Mendez’s funeral was held at Amalla Funeral Home and Lopez’s funeral was held at Carillo Funeral Home.
Additionally, each girl has been honored with a GoFundMe page in her name.
A GoFundMe for Mendez that says funds will go toward funeral expenses raised more than $5,600 of a $10,00 goal as of Wednesday afternoon. The person who created the page wrote, “She was one of the most caring people we knew” and “we will always carry you in our hearts.”
On Lopez’s GoFundMe, the organizer of the page wrote she approached life “with a beautiful smile” and was “ready to overcome whatever came her way.” The page raised more than $2,100 of a $10,000 goal as of Wednesday afternoon to assist with funeral expenses.
Castro’s GoFundMe, on the other hand, was initially set up to assist with medical expenses. But on Tuesday, the organizer wrote, “It is with a heavy heart and the most ultimate sadness” that friends learned of Castro’s death and funds will go toward funeral expenses. The page had raised more than $4,600 as of Wednesday afternoon.
The fatal crash occurred at the intersection of South Riverside Drive and Glen Eden Drive about 2:35 a.m. on Aug. 18, when witnesses said the car carrying five teens went through the stop sign at the intersection, according to the Star-Telegram’s media partner, WFAA-TV. Another car heading northbound on South Riverside Drive then reportedly hit the car in the intersection.
There were two people in the other car, WFAA-TV reported, but they didn’t need to be taken to a hospital.