Sixth victim in deadly Fort Worth pile-up identified; lawmakers seek investigation into whether roads were treated

Updated at 6:45 p.m. Feb. 13: Revised to include the identity of the sixth victim and a statement from the family of William Darrell Williams.

The sixth victim killed in a Fort Worth crash involving more than 100 vehicles was identified Saturday, one day after lawmakers called for an investigation into whether the roads were properly treated for icy weather.

Thursday’s pileup was the most staggering of the crashes that dotted ice-slicked roads across Dallas-Fort Worth. The crash north of downtown Fort Worth, which was reported just after 6 a.m., occurred in the southbound TEXPress lanes of Interstate 35W. The wreckage stretched a half-mile between Northeast 28th Street and Northside Drive.

Fort Worth police did not answer questions Friday about the conditions of the road at the time of the crash and said they were still investigating.

On Friday, state Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, chairman of the Texas House Committee on Transportation, called for the Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Department of Public Safety to conduct an investigation into the crash.

“I have spoken to state legislators from the region, and they expressed concerns that this roadway may not have been sufficiently pre-treated for icy weather prior to the event,” Canales said in a written statement. “If this is true, regardless if it is the responsibility of a private entity to treat the North Tarrant Express, it is wholly unacceptable.”

On Friday, the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office identified five of the victims as Tiffany Louann Gerred, 34; Christopher Ray Vardy, 49; Aaron Luke Watson, 45; Michael Henry Wells, 47; and William Darrell Williams, 54.

On Saturday, the sixth victim was identified by the medical examiner’s office as 46-year-old Tamara Fatima Mendoza Querales. Her time of death was not available Saturday evening, but the medical examiner’s office reported that she died of blunt-force injuries.

The five victims identified Friday died at the scene of the crash between 6:03 a.m. and 6:13 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. The office said Gerred, Watson and Wells died of blunt-force injuries. Causes of death for Vardy and Williams were still pending Saturday.

Tiffany Louann Gerred

Gerred, an administrative clerk for the Tarrant County district clerk’s office, leaves behind an 11-year-old daughter.

Gerred was assigned to the 360th District Court, which hears family cases. She always entered the courtroom with a smile on her face and was a bright presence, Judge Patricia Baca Bennett said.

“It was always nice to see her because she was always upbeat, and that made it a pleasure to work with her,” Baca Bennett said.

In an email sent to his staff Friday morning, Tarrant County District Clerk Thomas Wilder called Gerred “a beacon of light with her energetic personality.” Resources will be available to her grieving colleagues, Wilder added.

Gerred’s family set up a GoFundMe account to collect donations for funeral expenses, and to go to her daughter, Emri.

“If you didn’t have the honor of knowing Tiffany Gerred, it would take a novel to tell the full story of who she was, but let me attempt to give you the Cliff notes version,” her family wrote in the GoFundMe account. “In-short Tiffany was an amazingly beautiful person. Fiercely loyal to everyone blessed enough to be in her family, or to call her friend. She was a woman of faith and, despite being the youngest of five children, and the only girl; Tiffany had a sweet, loving spirit.”

Aaron Luke Watson

Sara Suttle, a longtime friend of Watson’s wife, Jane Watson, said it was several hours before family and friends knew he had died.

Aaron Watson owned two Jason’s Deli stores in Arlington and Mansfield and was on his way to work, Suttle said. She said Jane Watson texted her around 10 a.m. saying she hadn’t heard back from her husband after sending him a message at 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

Suttle said they checked his location using an app and saw that he had been sitting on the highway for more than 30 minutes. Family and friends searching local hospitals for him. Then eventually found out his body was at a morgue.

According to Suttle, Jane Watson said he didn’t normally take I-35W to work but that he might have used the interstate Thursday highway because he thought the roads might be icier elsewhere.

“It’s just gut-wrenching,” she said.

In addition to his wife, Aaron Watson leaves behind an 18-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son. Suttle said that Jane Watson asked her to speak on her behalf and that the family wants people to know that Aaron Watson was “an amazing father [and] an amazing husband.”

“Aaron was the most amazing man. He lived for his family,” Suttle said, reading from comments she had prepared with Jane Watson. “He worked hard his whole life and was the perpetual provider. The whole family is shocked and saddened by his tragic and sudden loss.”

Suttle had known Aaron Watson since the beginning of his and Jane Watson’s 20-year marriage, and said she is also reeling from the news of his death.

“I think about [his son] being 10, and I just think, how much is he going to remember his daddy?” Suttle said through tears. “They’re just such good people, just a special, special family. It’s been really tough just knowing what the future holds for them without their dad.”

The Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce said in a Facebook post that “Aaron had a huge heart and was so supportive of the community.”

Christopher Ray Vardy

Vardy, along with his wife and two adult sons, was a longtime member of the First United Methodist Church of Fort Worth. He had served “in every capacity imaginable,” the Rev. Lance Marshall said in a video service on the church’s Facebook page Friday morning.

Vardy was especially active with the children’s and youth ministries. His two sons were raised in the church, Marshall said, adding that he was beloved by hundreds of people.

“Chris is just one of those people that I cannot fathom not seeing every single Sunday morning,” Marshall said.

Vardy worked for InterConnect Wiring in Fort Worth, according to a post on the company’s Facebook page.

His wife, Tamara Vardy, is the Boyd ISD superintendent, and the district said in a statement that she and her family “greatly appreciate the outpouring of love and support” they have received.

“Mr. Vardy loves his family very much and is so proud of his wife and two boys,” the statement said. “You would find him at cross country meets riding the mule, attending one-act play performances, and cheering from the sidelines and stands for football, basketball and baseball.”

Michael Henry Wells

Relatives of Wells could not be reached for comment.

The medical examiner’s records showed that Wells was a Justin resident.

William Darrell Williams

William Darrell Williams spent the last several years living with his sister, nephew and niece, said Jennifer Williams-Roland, Williams’ sister. The family most recently relocated from San Antonio to the Saginaw and Fort Worth area to be closer to his family, she said.

Williams-Roland said after attending Boswell High School in Fort Worth, where he was born, Williams enlisted in the Army and afterward, traveled to many coastal towns, cities and countries. His sister said he loved singing and talking to new people, and “he rarely met a stranger or a dog that he didn’t connect with.”

“He spent everyday with someone in our family, either traveling to Winstar with his mom or competing with her during their evening game show hour, singing with his niece, fishing with his dad or just hanging out with his nephew, sister and cousins,” Williams-Roland said in a written statement. “He was a character, but he loved his family and his circle of friends very much.”

The crash

Thursday’s crash shut down I-35W, including toll lanes, with traffic backed up in both directions from Interstate 30 to Interstate 820, Fort Worth police said.

Passing motorists captured video footage of the crash, showing passenger vehicles and out-of-control semi trucks smash into one another. Tangled vehicles faced every which way, with some ending up on top of others.

More than a dozen tractor trailers and scores of passenger vehicles were involved.

Police said about 6:40 p.m. Friday that all lanes of the interstate had reopened.

At least 65 people were treated at area hospitals Thursday for crash injuries, MedStar spokesman Matt Zavadsky said.

Zavadsky said many involved in the accident were health care workers who were wearing scrubs and hospital badges. None of those treated were children.

Four Fort Worth police officers were hospitalized as a result of the crash, Chief Neil Noakes said. Three were on their way to work at the time of the pileup, and one was injured while helping at the scene. All four were released from the hospital.

Treated roads?

State Rep. Ramon Romero Jr. and state Sen. Beverly Powell, both Fort Worth Democrats, said Thursday that their offices were investigating and also asking TxDOT about allegations of improper road treatment.

TxDOT did not respond to requests for comment about lawmakers’ concerns, but in a written statement the agency said it was committed to driver safety and proactively treats roads before all major winter weather.

Robert Hinkle — a spokesman for North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners, a consortium of companies that built and maintains the TEXPress lanes — said in a written statement that it also was actively working to keep ice off the roads. The statement did not address whether the area where the crash occurred had been treated.

“Maintenance crews started pre-treating our corridors on Tuesday and have been spot treating since then,” Hinkle said. “Our crews are now assisting emergency responders to manage the accident scene on 35W and will continue treating the highways through the weekend and into next week.”

In a statement Friday night, North Tarrant Express said it was working with authorities and that its crews pre-treated the corridor “well ahead of the storm earlier this week.”

The roads were calmer areawide on Friday. Few accidents were reported in the morning as North Texans braced for temperatures in the single digits and possible snow in the coming days.