Ramona Lawyer, 70, Among 5 Killed in Texas Crash

Fred Ulysses Hammett Jr. of Ramona was killed late Wednesday night in Mesquite, TX, when his GMC Acadia was hit by a Ford pickup driven on the wrong side of the road, according to Texas media reports.

Police were investigating the cause of the crash, which shut down I-20 for hours, said the Mineola Monitor.

It’s still unclear why Krystle Dawn Murphy Carranza, 27, was driving the wrong way, the Monitor reported. Carranza and her three daughters perished.

"Police said she almost hit a state trooper minutes before crashing into Hammett’s vehicle," the paper said, adding that records obtained from the Wood County Sheriff’s Department indicate Carranza had been arrested three times since 2005, once for driving while intoxicated on April 27, 2006.

Hammett, 70, is listed as an active attorney with a San Diego work address.

East County Magazine reported that Hammett was in Texas to attend his sister’s memorial service and was driving a rental SUV.