We’re learning more about the 7-car collision in Denton County that involved an RV and left one person dead. The medical examiner tells us the victim is 31-year-old Antonio Venegas Castorena. A friend tells NBC 5’s Allie Spillyards he would’ve been driving home from work at the time of the crash.
As crews worked to peel apart a seven-vehicle pileup along I-35 northbound in Denton this week, horrified North Texans watched on.
A neighbor, known as Lovely Mess, said she never imagined that her friend was gone.
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WATCH HERE“I remember when he left that day because I always told him, 'You look handsome. Have a good day,'” said Lovely Mess.
Thursday morning, Mess said she learned that 31-year-old Antonio Venegas Castorena was the driver killed Tuesday.
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SIGN UP According to Denton police, a speeding RV struck his car while he was stopped in traffic near the Hickory Street Bridge, pushing it into multiple vehicles.
The RV came to a rest on top of Venegas Castorena. Six others were rushed to the hospital.
Mess said she’s finding comfort in watching doorbell camera video to relive nights like the one that happened about a week ago when the friends shared drinks and conversation.
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“It was just his aura, just his personality. You could just tell that he was a happy person and that he just wanted to be happy and make other people happy,” she said.
Mess said the two were neighbors for about three years.
Venegas Castorena loved fixing up old cars and was dedicated to a job that she said he likely was headed home from Tuesday afternoon.
“He had so much to give, you know, he had so much more he wanted to do. He wanted to have a family, and that was taken away from him,” said Mess.
