Background: The aftermath of the crash in Stephenville, Texas (KDFW/YouTube). Inset left: Gracie Yates (Stephenville Police Department). Inset right: Barbara Rocha and Alex Aaron Rocha (GoFundMe).
In a tragic incident in Texas, a mother and her young son lost their lives when a vehicle, driven by an 18-year-old woman, unexpectedly plowed through their bedroom wall, according to local authorities.
Gracie Yates has been charged with two counts of criminally negligent homicide, as indicated by records from the Erath County jail that were examined by Law&Crime. The victims, identified by family members, were 49-year-old Barbara Rocha and her 7-year-old son, Alex Aaron Rocha, as reported by the regional Fox affiliate KDFW.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, Barbara and Alex were in their home on the 200 block of North Ollie Street in Stephenville, Texas, a town situated about 100 miles southwest of Dallas. Without warning, a vehicle veered off the road and crashed into their residence, as detailed in a press release from the Stephenville Police Department.
“”All I heard is a crash, I went in the room, and all you can hear is my little brother screaming and my mom praying,’” Raul Rocha, an older brother of Alex Rocha, recounted what their other brother who lived at the home told him. “That’s what he said … I have that stuck in the back of my head right now.”
Both Barbara and Alex were transported to a nearby hospital; however, they succumbed to their injuries.
Yates is accused of being the driver involved in this tragic incident. The police report does not list any additional passengers in her vehicle.
A GoFundMe campaign initiated by a friend of Barbara Rocha’s husband claims that a “drunk driver” was responsible for the crash. However, the police statement did not cite alcohol or drugs as factors in the accident.
The man is “now without a house and is struggling to cover the funeral costs for his wife and son,” the fundraiser adds. “He’s also in urgent need of temporary housing and support for other immediate needs as he tries to rebuild.”
Yates was booked into the Erath County Jail on Sunday, and a judge set her bond at $14,500. She was released on Tuesday, records show.
