Separate crashes claim life, home’s porch and stairs

A Houston woman was killed and an Austin man seriously injured in two separate crashes over the weekend. The former occurred Sunday afternoon in Caldwell County and the latter, early Saturday in San Marcos.

According to Sgt. Robbie Barrera of the Texas Highway Patrol, Maria De Jesus Mendoza, 73, died at Seton Medical Center in Kyle following a head-on collision near Luling.

Her vehicle was hit by another that crossed the center line at approximately 3:41 p.m. Sunday on Hwy. 80 one mile north of Luling.

Barrera said Mendoza’s vehicle, a 2014 Ford Fusion, was hit “left headlight to left headlight” by a 2015 Mazda CX5 driven by 20-year-old Sierra Jade Garcia, 20, from Kyle.

Garcia was also taken to Seton, as was Lydia Smith, 76, of Houston, who had been a passenger in Mendoza’s car.

Barrera said Garcia had been traveling north while Mendoza was going south on the highway. “It is still under investigation as to why the driver of vehicle 1 crossed the double yellow lines into on-coming traffic,” she said. 

The San Marcos collision occurred at 3:39 a.m. Saturday and involved only one vehicle. It destroyed the front steps of a home on West Sessom Drive.

City spokesman Trey Hatt said in a press release that the 26-year-old Tyler Mitchell Reed had been driving a 2015 Suzuki two-door that was traveling westbound on Sessom before he lost control and the vehicle left the roadway to the right, “traveled across Alamo Street and through a yard before flipping and damaging the house at 244 W. Sessom Drive.”

Hatt said the driver was laying “nearby” the vehicle when first responders arrived. Investigators with the SMPD’s Collision Investigation Team believe he had not been wearing a seat belt and was ejected. They also believe speed may have been a factor. The posted speed limit along that stretch of roadway is 30 mph, and the road was dry at the time. 

The home’s front porch was damaged, Hatt said, and the steps to it “destroyed,” although there is believed to have been no structural damage. 

The driver was taken by ground ambulance to St. David’s South Austin Hospital. The incident closed the roadway in both directions for about four hours.