A 19-year-old college student was killed by a suspected drunk driver this weekend after he survived being hit in a separate DUI incident two years ago, Texas authorities and local media reports said.
Texas teenager who survived being hit by drunk driver 2 years ago dies from same cause
Clyde Thompson and Tonysha Lashay Smith, 19, died Sunday after the Nissan Altima they were driving was struck head-on by a Chevrolet pickup truck in Beaumont, Texas, the Beaumont Police Department said in a news release .
The driver of the truck, who was hospitalized, now faces charges, authorities said.
They added that “alcohol is believed to be a contributing factor.” The Port Arthur News identified Antonio DeJesus Delgado, 22, as the driver.
Both Thompson and Smith were students at Lamar University, the university confirmed to KBMT News. The media outlet also reported that Thompson’s twin sister lived in the dorms with Smith.
The university’s Student Government Association said in a statement that Thompson was majoring in kinesiology and Smith was an aspiring nurse.
The two friends were on their way back to campus after a late-night foraging trip when the accident occurred, KBMT reported.
Sunday’s tragedy is compounded by a 2019 incident in which Thompson and a friend were hit by a drunk driver while walking home from a late-night basketball practice, KHOU reported. Thompson was placed in a coma after suffering damage to his brain that required four surgeries, the media outlet reported.
Thompson’s basketball coach told the media outlet that doctors had given Thompson less than a 50 percent chance of survival. But Thompson recovered.
At the time, Thompson called his return to high school for his senior year “a miracle.”
