Ismael Ojeda, 48 of Littlefield, Texas, was killed Saturday, April 23, when a vehicle he was a passenger in collided with a train at an unguarded crossing. The crash happened around 11:00 a.m. Saturday morning about three miles southeast of Sudan, TX. The vehicle, a Chevy Equinox driven by Alicia Molina, 48 of Littlefield, Texas, was travelling southbound on County Road 115 when it struck a BNSF train at the crossing just next to Highway 84. Ojeda was pronounced dead at the scene, and Molina as well as a three-year-old boy who was a passenger were airlifted to Lubbock’s UMC by Aerocare with incapacitating injuries.
In 2015 alone, there were 244 train-crossing fatalities, or about two every three days. In 2015, there were 2059 collisions between passenger vehicles and trains. The majority of these collisions, injuries, and fatalities occur at unmarked or unguarded train crossings, usually in rural, low-traffic areas.
Glasheen, Valles & Inderman has extensive experience with train-crash litigation. Kevin Glasheen has obtained two substantial train-wreck verdicts, including a $65-million verdict and a $46-million verdict. Our firm was also hired by 26 of the Midland Train Wreck victims, which later resulted in a confidential settlement.
Learn more about the deadly train crossing crash and what happened after the train crossing crash.
Update: We have learned that the three-year-old boy who was a passenger in the vehicle has also passed away.