Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Two Clovis teenagers, both passengers in a car pursued by law enforcement, were killed in a wreck in Parmer County on March 19 that also killed the vehicle’s driver.
The boys were passengers in a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu driven by Damian Javier Garcia, 21, of Hereford, according to a report provided by Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Johnny Bures.
Garcia was transported to an Amarillo hospital where he died from injuries suffered in the crash, officials said.
Police did not identify the teenagers killed, but a family member confirmed the victims were brothers Angel Saenz, 16, and Jessie Castro, 15, both of Clovis. A GoFundMe page has been established to help the family with funeral expenses.
The DPS report states about 9:38 p.m. (CDT) Saturday, a DPS trooper attempted a traffic stop on the Malibu that was eastbound on U.S. 60.
The driver refused to stop and continued eastbound for another 18 to 20 miles, according to the report. Then the driver crossed the median from the eastbound to the westbound lane and continued to evade the trooper, driving the wrong way on westbound U.S. 60.
About 10 miles east of Friona the Malibu collided with a westbound 2017 Jeep Wrangler being driven by Robert John Baker, 58, of Kalamazoo, Mich. Baker’s passengers were Lynette Dorothy Baker, 55, of Portage, Mich., and Paul Robert Baker, 27, of Kalamazoo, Mich.
Both teenage boys died at the scene of the crash.
Robert Baker and Lynette Baker were both transported to University Medical Center in Lubbock for serious injuries. Paul Baker was taken to Hereford Regional Medical Center in Hereford where he was treated for minor injuries and released.
The fatal crash was the second this year in Parmer County that also involved a police pursuit.
On Jan. 16, police said Vanessa Villarreal, 19, of Bovina was driving a Suburban that fled police after a traffic stop in Bovina. The pursuit ended in Farwell with Villarreal and a 16-year-old boy dead from gunshot wounds. Police described the incident as a murder-suicide. They have declined to identify the teenage boy in that case.
