HARTLEY COUNTY, TEXAS — The families of four women killed in a crash with an 18-wheeler on US 87 last November have filed a wrongful death lawsuit, naming H-E-B, Parkway Transport Inc, Scrappy Trucking LLC, and the truck driver, Guadalupe Daniel Villarreal, as defendants. The lawsuit was filed Dec. 23 in Bexar County and is seeking damages while also asking the court to preserve key evidence connected to the wreck.

The suit was filed on behalf of the families of the four victims killed in the Nov. 5, 2025 crash: Breanna Brantley, 30; Taylor White, 27; Myunique Johnson, 20; and Lakeisha Brown, 19. The lawsuit seeks damages for mental anguish, loss of earning capacity and financial support, loss of companionship, loss of inheritance, funeral expenses, and other exemplary damages. It also calls for a jury trial and includes an application for a temporary restraining order prohibiting the defendants from taking action involving evidence, including the vehicles involved, witness statements, drug and alcohol test results, other documents and data, and Villarreal’s phone.

According to a Texas Department of Public Safety crash report, the four women were traveling southbound on US 87 in Hartley County when they experienced a flat tire. The report states their passenger car moved into the outside lane, activated hazard lights, and slowed down because of the flat. The 18-wheeler, driven by Villarreal, was traveling behind them in the right lane, and DPS said the truck failed to control speed, resulting in the 18-wheeler rear-ending the women’s car.

After impact, authorities said both vehicles spun into the median, leaving the 18-wheeler flipped on its side and the rear of the passenger car completely crushed. Villarreal sustained minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital, while all four women were pronounced dead at the scene. The 18-wheeler was hauling a load of potatoes for H-E-B at the time of the crash.

The lawsuit alleges Villarreal was distracted behind the wheel, likely by his cell phone, and notes the crash happened on a sunny November day on a wide, open stretch of US 87 just outside Dalhart. Video described in the report showed another vehicle safely passing the women’s car on the left after they slowed with hazard lights on, followed moments later by the 18-wheeler striking the car at full speed. Family members said the footage shows the crash was avoidable. “They never had a chance. They never saw it coming,” said Subrina Williams, Brantley’s mother, adding that the video shows they never saw it coming.

Williams said Brantley and her friends had traveled to Oklahoma to comfort a grieving friend, and she last spoke to her daughter just before the crash. “The last thing she said was, ‘I love you, and I’m on my way home,’” Williams said. Attorney Keith Bakker of The NMW Law Firm said, “The video clearly shows another car was able to get out of the way, but the 18-wheeler was not.”

The DPS report states the truck driver failed to control his speed. Online records cited in the report indicate Villarreal has not been criminally charged, though the crash is being investigated as “criminally negligent homicide,” according to the report.

H-E-B issued a statement saying: “Our H-E-B Family is devastated by this tragic accident, which resulted in the loss of the young women involved. The incident involved a third-party vendor driver, not an H-E-B Partner. H-E-B and the contractor are fully cooperating with the investigation.” Williams said the lawsuit is about accountability: “The thing is, you want justice for your family. They didn’t ask for this. They never saw this coming.”

📸 Image(s) used under fair use for news reporting.