Police say two alleged street racers face serious charges in a devastating crash that claimed the life of several members of an innocent North Texas family, including two children.
It happened near 1500 South Belt Line Road after 8 p.m. on Saturday.
Grand Prairie police say a Chevy Traverse was traveling north on South Belt Line Rd when it was turning left onto Kingston Drive and collided with a red Dodge Charger.
Three occupants in the Traverse were pronounced dead at the scene. Two others in the vehicle were transported to a local hospital, where one died from their injuries. The fifth passenger remains in critical condition, according to police.
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Photos shared on a crowdfunding site show the victims of the deadly crash, the Rosales family of Garland.
In one photograph, the family is celebrating someone's 47th birthday, and in another, the family embraces as a little girl shows off a school award.
Five members of the Rosales family were in the Traverse that collided with the alleged illegal street racer.
Both parents, Jessie and Lorena Rosales died on the scene. Two of their children also died: 13-year-old Stephanie and 6-year-old Angel. A third child, who is 16 years old, is in the hospital in critical condition.
Garland ISD confirms the children were students in the district.
Video taken by witnesses at the scene showed the aftermath of the collision: one car flipped on its side and engulfed in flames, the front end of another car smashed to pieces from the force of the wreck.
The wreck occurred on a fast-moving stretch of Belt Line Road in Grand Prairie, a four-lane street running between I-20 and I-30.
Based on witness statements to police, detectives believe the driver of the red Charger was traveling at a high rate of speed and racing another vehicle, a white Dodge Charger Daytona, that fled the scene after the crash.
The driver of the red Charger has been identified as 20-year-old Jaime Mesa, who was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Mesa is in police custody and has been charged with four counts of racing on a highway causing death, four counts of manslaughter, one count of racing on a highway causing serious bodily injury, and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Detectives located and arrested the driver of the white Charger who fled the scene, 22-year-old Anthony Morales, Sunday night.
Morales is charged with four counts of racing on a highway causing death and one count of racing on a highway causing serious bodily injury.
Yvette Acosta is among the eyewitnesses who report hearing screams coming from the victim’s car.
“I haven’t been able to sleep well because of it,” she said. “I can hear that, and just seeing them and not being able to help them, it’s very devastating.”
Acosta says illegal street racing was never a big issue when she moved to the area 25 years ago, but it is now.
“Belt Line and 14th Street are the main ones where they’re always racing,” she said. “You’re putting people at danger. You’re killing people. If they can think of their own family, what about if this was your family? What if this was your family, how would you feel?”
NBC 5 contacted Grand Prairie police, who said the department has seen a decline in the number of street racing cases over the last few years.
Data from GPPD showed that the department had arrested 30 people for street racing so far in 2024 and seized at least 15 vehicles connected to racing.
Earlier this year, NBC 5 spoke with Dallas County prosecutors about new tools they have been using to take on high-speed offenders.
“If something bad happens and you hit somebody, you kill them or hurt them, we’re going to do everything we can to prosecute you, and we will get the evidence, we’ll get your speed,” said Dallas County DA John Creuzot.
The Dallas County Vehicular Crimes Unit is now able to obtain a warrant to download from a car’s event data recorder, which can show exactly how fast a car is moving in the moments before a crash.
The unit has also begun using location data from GPS systems and phone apps to determine a driver’s speed.
“These are all very important, and they’re very impactful cases,” said Creuzot. “And we want to do our best to hold people accountable for them.”
“It was the craziest day of my life,” said Ashik Maharzan.
Moments before the crash, Maharzan was working inside the Valero station, which would become the collision scene.
“I heard a big bang noise from there coming up, and I took a peek at it and I saw two people flying out of the window,” said Maharzan.
Maharzan told NBC 5 that he ran outside and saw what appeared to be two deceased victims lying motionless on the street.
He said he wanted to run to help, but the heat from the fire was too intense.
“There was just an explosion; I couldn’t even go near the fire; it was just that big,” said Maharzan. “People were yelling and crying there, and I saw the two bodies lying there.”
The flames spread to the wires hanging from utility poles above the wreck.
As crews worked to repair the damage on Sunday, people living nearby said their internet was expected to be offline for the next two days.
For some, the emotional toll from the crash would stay with them longer.
“I couldn’t sleep for two or three hours, I couldn’t sleep,” said Maharzan. “That fire was in my mind for a couple of hours.”
The crash remains under investigation.
