UPDATE (January 2, 2024): Further information released to the public has cleared up certain details as well as identified the victim. Authorities say that 25-year-old Alexis LaMastus was the driver of a Hyundai Sonata on westbound lanes of the freeway. LaMastus's car was apparently disabled in a lane of travel when an 18-wheeler crashed into it from behind, resulting in fatal injuries.

These new details, if accurate, are a stark contrast from the original news stories I read claiming Miss LaMastus cut off an 18-wheeler when more recent information says she was in a disabled vehicle. Where exactly did the news get that initial idea? Were they jumping to conclusions? Was it misreported to them by the police? Were there witnesses talking to the news giving misleading information? What made them so confident to blame a woman for her own fatal crash when, depending on the circumstances, it may have been entirely outside of her control?

I can't help but wonder if there are still details that need to be corrected.

Houston, TX — November 21, 2023, a woman was killed as the result of an 18-wheeler accident on the Katy Freeway late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

Right now, details are inconsistent, as at least one outlet says this crash happened around 11:00 p.m. Tuesday while others say this happened the day before Thanksgiving. It occurred near the I-10 and Highway 6 intersection.

According to information in the news, a woman believed to be about 25 years old was in either a Hyundai or a Tesla car (again, sources are conflicting), when an 18-wheeler reportedly hit the car from behind. At least one source claims the car "cut-off" the semi, but this can't be confirmed. Due to the collision, the woman was taken to a hospital where it appears she died days following the collision.

Currently, no further information is available. And frankly, the information that is available hardly answers the many questions still surrounding this accident. Such inconsistent information isn't exactly uncommon, but I'm wondering if news outlets weren't taking this crash very seriously as staff rushed out of the office for the holidays. I can only hope authorities are being much more thorough behind the scenes, because if the victim's loved ones are seeing the same incomplete, inconsistent, conflicting details the rest of us are seeing, that simply isn't right.