Attorney investigates truck that Vidor girls were riding in during fatal crash

The attorney for a Vidor man whose daughter was killed in a single-vehicle accident last weekend joined investigators at a car auction site on Monday to inspect the truck.

The white 1999 Ford F-150 pick-up truck that 14-year-old Kristen Kirkland and 13-year-old Mykala Ross were riding in when it crashed on Nov. 19 was visibly mangled and the back window was missing.

The bed of the truck was almost disconnected from the cab, and both the driver and passenger airbags had been deployed. Investigators unsuccessfully attempted to open the doors to the truck with a crowbar.

A Department of Public Safety report from the crash site said the truck was traveling northbound on County Road 4123 - a mile north of Deweyville - shortly before 11 p.m. on Nov. 19 when it left the roadway, overturned and hit a tree. The girls, who were riding in the backseat of the cab, were thrown from the back window.

Kirkland's father, Keith Allen Kirkland, last week filed suit against the driver, 19-year-old Elizabeth Watkins, alleging her negligence caused the violent collision which ultimately resulted in his daughter's death.

Watkins was treated and released from Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital by the Monday following the crash.

An autopsy showed the teens died as a result of internal injuries from the crash. Department of Public Safety troopers said last week that neither of the girls was wearing a seatbelt.

Beaumont attorney Cade Bernsen, who is representing Kirkland, said investigators told him it appeared no one in the vehicle was wearing a seatbelt.

Bernsen filed and was granted a temporary restraining order on Thursday barring anyone from tampering with the vehicle. A hearing for a temporary injunction is set for Nov. 30 in the 260th District Court.

DPS Trooper Stephanie Davis said no charges have been filed yet, but they are "possible." Troopers still are working to reconstruct the scene, she said.

Joseph Constantin, 18, also was a passenger in the vehicle. He was taken to an area hospital in serious condition with internal injuries after the crash, but Davis said troopers have been unable to get an update on his condition.