Funeral held for one of the victims in fatal Fort Worth I-35 pile-up crash
FORT WORTH, Texas - Funeral services were held Thursday for Susana "Susie" Longoria, who was one of the victims of last week's chain reaction crash on I-35W in Fort Worth that killed four people.
The preliminary investigation into the wreck has not identified who may have been at fault or if charges are expected to be filed, but Longoria's loved ones feel someone needs to be held accountable.
Longoria’s family said it was extremely difficult at the funeral, adding that it’s been a long week and a half as well.
They didn’t find out about her death until the morning after the crash. They still have questions about what led up to the crash.
Thursday, the 31-year-old was laid to rest in Fort Worth.
The single mother, who was studying to be a nurse, leaves behind a 9-year-old daughter.
Back on September 11, a chain reaction crash in the northbound lanes of I-35W, near Berry Street, claimed the lives of four people and injured five others.
Police said Longoria was driving a black Chrysler when it hit the center median and spun out of control.
Several other drivers pulled over to help her, including a pickup, a semi-truck cab, and two other cars.
While everyone was out of their vehicles, investigators said a white freightliner big rig with a trailer traveling in the far left lane then slammed into the crash scene.
Chase Mapes, who was 25 and from Oklahoma, was also killed in the crash, along with best friends, 21-year-old Jasmine Jones and 23-year-old Kiara Barker.
4 killed, 2 critically injured in Fort Worth pile-up crash
Police received a call about two vehicles involved in a minor accident. They were pulled over in the left shoulder. A truck pulled in to help, and then all three got hit by two 18-wheelers.
Police said the case is still under investigation and no charges have been filed.
Fort Worth does have a city ordinance stating no trucks in the left lane.
Signs can be seen near where the crash took place, but the transportation code does clarify that the restricted vehicles can use any lane of the highway to pass another vehicle and to enter and exit the highway.
"We have a truck in a lane that shouldn’t be there, and then a tragic catastrophe that I think we are going to show was preventable and shouldn’t have happened," attorney Ryan Zehl said.
Longoria’s family hired Zehl, a Houston injury and accident attorney, who now will have his team reconstruct the crash.
Following the firm’s own investigation, that’s when they would file a lawsuit.
"We need to find out the trucks that were involved. Then we will go inspect those vehicles, download the black box, or ECM data," Zehl explained.
Longoria’s family found out about the crash the next morning, when her daughter, Valerie, revealed her mom didn’t come home from school the night before.
"It’s just hard because Valerie was her world," Longoria’s brother-in-law, Jose Fernandez, said.
FOX 4 spoke with Longoria’s family on Saturday. They said they want answers.
"In our head, if you are going to post a sign saying trucks in the lane, it’s time to enforce it," Fernandez said.
The details from the crash are from the preliminary investigation, so the traffic investigation unit at Fort Worth PD is still working on that final report to release.