Crash leaves one band student dead, several others injured

"Nothing makes sense, so I won't think about it."

- quote from Jennifer Vasquez's MySpace page

EDINBURG - A high school band celebration turned somber Saturday morning after a van full of student musicians rolled, leaving one girl dead and three other students with serious injuries.

The crash happened about 9:40 a.m. as eight students were riding to the first Johnny Economedes High School Band Spring Fest, which was set to run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Organizers had dubbed the celebration Kite Day, offering food, music and a chance to fly a kite.

Officials cancelled the event after the wreck, which happened north of the high school on Monte Cristo Road, between Cesar Chavez and Alamo roads.

The students were eastbound on the two-lane road in a Pontiac Transport when they tried to pass another car, said Trooper Johnny Hernandez, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. The van's driver, 15-year-old Isaiah Gomez, over-corrected his steering and the van rolled three times, Hernandez said.

Jennifer Vasquez, a 16-year-old junior and trumpet player, was thrown from the vehicle and later pronounced dead at the scene.

Gomez and Vasquez had come to the festival earlier in the day, leaving about 9:30 a.m. to pick up other band members, said Gilbert Tagle, a spokesman for the Edinburg school district.

Rescue workers airlifted Gomez to Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen. The boy remained in critical condition late Saturday, but Tagle said doctors expect him to survive his injuries.

Paramedics rushed two other students to McAllen Medical Center, said Deputy Chief R.H. Pursley of the Edinburg Fire Department. Melissa Ramirez, who was riding in the van with two sisters, suffered a fractured skull, Tagle said. Ariel Aguinaga suffered a serious back injury and may require surgery.

Four other students were in stable condition at area hospitals, Hernandez said.

DPS troopers continue to investigate the wreck. But it appears Gomez was not lawfully driving the vehicle in accordance with the Texas Graduated Driver License Program, which creates two phases of driving requirements for minors.

Although 15-year-olds may obtain a learner's permit under the program, they must be accompanied by a person at least 21 years of age while operating a vehicle.

"The law does state that if he's going to have a permit, he needs to be driving with a licensed driver over 21," Hernandez affirmed.

The van carried seven students from Economedes High School and one student from a local middle school, Tagle said. All seven participated in the band.

The crash prompted the school to cancel the Spring Fest event, where several of the passengers' parents waited for their children to arrive.

At 4 p.m., several hours after the wreck, the school grounds were quiet, with just a smattering of vehicles in the parking lot. The marquee still bore news of the celebration.

The Edinburg Fire Department had planned to drive one of its engines around the high school in a parade. Instead, firefighters responded to the fatal crash.

Hidalgo County Justice of the Peace Rosa Treviño pronounced Vasquez dead at the scene, which the official described as tragic.

"Bad," Treviño said. "Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad."

Friends and family posted messages of mourning Saturday on Vasquez's page on MySpace, the popular social networking Web site, where she used the handle "the bored one" and listed her chief interests as music and video games.

One message poster identified as "angel" wrote: "jen jen :( why??? ... rip my dear good friend i will miss you."

School officials plan to bring a team of grief counselors to campus this week as standard procedure after such an incident.

Economedes is the Edinburg school district's smallest high school in terms of enrollment, and Tagle said the band there is a close-knit group, well known across campus.

"It's going to be solemn," he said. "This caught them totally by surprise."
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Zack Quaintance covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4447.