A tragic incident in Texas involving a collision between an 18-wheeler and a Nissan Altima resulted in the deaths of four women. The crash is being attributed to “distracted” driving, with the alleged culprit being the truck driver’s cellphone, as highlighted in a recent lawsuit.

According to attorneys representing the families of the victims—Lakeisha Brown, Breanna Brantley, Myunique Johnson, and Taylor White—dashcam footage purportedly captures the moment trucker Guadalupe Villarreal rear-ended the Altima on November 5, 2025. The car was moving slowly in the right lane due to a flat tire at the time of the collision.

The incident occurred on U.S. 87 as the four women journeyed southward. Villarreal, who worked for Parkway Transport and Scrappy Trucking, was transporting a potato shipment for H-E-B, a grocery company that owns Parkway. A video from another vehicle reportedly shows Villarreal crashing into the Nissan from behind.

The lawsuit, a comprehensive 26-page complaint, accuses Villarreal and his employers of negligence. It claims Villarreal was driving “at high speed, without due attention, and failed to manage his velocity,” leading to the violent crash. Preliminary findings indicate his distraction was likely due to cellphone use.

“Villarreal slammed his 18-wheeler into the rear of decedents” passenger vehicle violently,” the complaint charges. “Preliminary evidence … shows that Villarreal was distracted and the likely source of that distraction is his mobile phone.”

The victims’ families accuse Villarreal of “failing to take evasive action” and “failure to control his speed,” citing “driver inattention” as the reason he hit the Nissan “while distracted due to the use of a handheld device.” It’s unclear whether Villarreal was talking or texting at the time of the crash, with the families’ lawyers requesting a court order to have his phone “as well as any other mobile communications device in his possession” be preserved and inspected.

An official crash report filed by the Texas Department of Transportation says Villarreal “failed to control speed.” No criminal charges have been filed related to the crash.

“The incident and resulting injuries did not immediately take decedents’ lives,” the complaint says. “Rather, before dying, decedents endured extreme conscious physical pain, suffering and mental anguish during and after the incident in question.”

The video from the passing vehicle features audio of passengers inside witnessing both the lead-up and aftermath of the deadly crash.

“They’re driving on a flat,” a person inside the car says.

“No!” the rider screams as the crash unfolds.

“Oh, f—!” another person shouts. “Call the police, call the police.”

The lawyers for the families say the video shows how Villarreal’s truck was “initially a significant distance behind the restricted vehicle” before he hit the women. “Johnson’s vehicle launched across the lanes of traffic where it ultimately landed facing north in the median between the southbound and northbound lanes with the truck flipped on its right side in the same median,” the lawyers say in a press release.

“Four young women’s lives have been unimaginably cut short, leaving their families devastated, because these companies and their driver demonstrated brazen disregard for the safety of others,” a statement from the families reads. “The shocking footage shows this driver failing to control his speed or be remotely aware of his surroundings, resulting in not only the catastrophic loss of life but inflicting crushing heartbreak on their loved ones.”

The families say they intend to hold the defendants “fully accountable for their actions and extreme negligence in such an avoidable tragedy.” They are seeking unspecified monetary damages related to “mental anguish, pecuniary losses, funeral expenses, loss of companionship,” and more.

Parkway Transport, Scrappy Trucking and H-E-B did not respond to Law&Crime’s requests for comment on Tuesday.