Two die in wreck

GARDENDALE Hearing news that two men died Sunday night in a Gardendale traffic accident, nearby residents voiced their anger at blatant disregards for speed throughout the small community.

The late night accident not only killed two men but also seriously injured a woman as well.

Gardendale residents near the Goldenrod Drive and Pecan Street intersection said speeding and running stop signs has become a common way of life.

“It pisses me off. They drive like a bat out of you-know-what right here on Pecan Street,” Virginia Cupps, a 30-year Gardendale resident, said. “We’re off out here in the country, and they think that gives them free will to do what they dadgum please.”

Cupps said there are often people walking their dogs or walking with children in the evening, but motorists still zoom by them as if they weren’t in the road.

Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Bo Speed’s report said the speed limit on Pecan Street is 35 mph, but longtime residents said there’s no way to know without a sign.

“Pecan doesn’t have a posted speed limit,” Ida Kennedy, also a 30-year Gardendale resident, said. She added the stop sign on Pecan Street at Goldenrod Drive is in a dark corner and was difficult to see at night.

The accident happened when a 2007 Honda Civic was headed north on Pecan Street and the driver ran a stop sign and collided with a 2005 Ford F-250 headed east on Goldenrod Drive, throwing the pickup into a roll, Speed reported.

The two men in the Civic, 21-year-olds Brandon Adam West of Gardendale and Hunter Cameron Lloyd of Midland were pronounced dead at 10:01 p.m. at the scene by Ector County medical investigator Carl Rogers. Neither man was wearing a seatbelt, Speed’s report said.

Lacritia Phillips, 38, of Gardendale, who was in the pickup, was upgraded to stable condition Monday at Medical Center Hospital with a broken neck and a broken leg, Speed’s report said.

A man, who identified himself as Chris, answered the phone in Phillips’ hospital room and said, “She’s doing a little bit better. It’s a long road of hope.”

Charles Phillips, 40, of Gardendale, an 11-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl were taken to Medical Center Hospital with minor injuries, the report said.

In the meantime, Cupps said she’s disappointed in the accident and that West should’ve known better since he lived in Gardendale.

“We’re losing too many of our kids — too many of our kids,” she said.