New details have been released in a crash in Fort Worth that claimed four lives Monday night.
Investigators at the Fort Worth Police Department are still investigating the deadly pileup but believe they know how the tragic events began.
Chacobe Barker arrived at DFW Airport on Thursday morning from California.
His daughter Kiara Barker, 23, is among four people killed in the horrifying chain-reaction crash along Northbound I-35 near Berry Street in Fort Worth.
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“She was outgoing, outspoken. The life of the party,” said Barker with a smile. “If you were wrong, she would let you know.”
Barker spoke with her on the phone earlier that evening and is grateful he was able to say ‘I love you.’
He says she was with friends and was a passenger in one of the impacted cars.
The investigation is complex and not yet complete.
Initial details released Thursday afternoon show a black Chrysler 200 was traveling NB when it began to spin and veered to the left, striking the center median,” according to a spokesperson for FWPD.
Several drivers then stopped to check on the driver of the Chrysler, including a pickup truck, a semi-truck cab, and two Hyundai cars.
It is not yet clear if everyone was stopped on the far left shoulder as previously reported, according to police on Thursday.
However, police say they have determined a white Freightliner semi-trailer was traveling in the far left lane and smashed into the crash scene, causing some vehicles to crash into others and into the good Samaritans who were standing outside.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the victims as Jasmine Breana Jones, 21; Susan Longoria, 31; Kiara Barker, 23; and Chase Mapes, 25.
Mapes’ mother says she was not surprised to learn her son stopped to help because it was the kind of man she raised.
NBC 5 has been asking authorities if the driver of the 18-wheeler could face any charges or citations if it is determined the driver was driving in the fast lane, which is not permitted in that specific stretch of road.
TxDOT and the Regional Transportation Council confirmed there are existing left lane restrictions unless a semi is passing or is driving in a construction zone.
NBC 5 confirmed there are signs posted near the crash site: NO TRUCKS LEFT LANE
Barker says he wants to know if the driver of the semi-trailer was impaired or if fatigue was a contributing factor in not avoiding the group of vehicles with their emergency lights flashing.
He was home in California when his son informed him they could not locate Kiara.
“I said what do you mean you can’t find her,” he remembers.
They began calling local hospitals and eventually the medical examiner’s office.
“He had told me he had three young ladies but Kiara wasn’t identified yet, until I gave them her tattoos and he got her fingerprints,” said Barker. “Two hours later, he said they had her.”
That moment brought back painful memories of 2006 when his six-month-old daughter was killed in a rollover crash in West Texas.
“I lost two of my daughters on Texas highways,” he said looking down. “I don’t know. I’m still trying to compose that.”
The family has started a GoFundMe to help cover the unexpected costs of laying Kiara to rest in Louisiana.
