Parmer County, TX — January 11, 2026, Edwin Barajas and Freddy Chocoj-Garcia were killed and Jesus Osuna were injured in a truck accident at about 1 a.m. on U.S. Highway 60.

Authorities said a 2018 GMC Yukon was turning left onto the highway from F.M. 3140 when it was hit by an eastbound 2026 Freightliner semi-truck.

GMC driver Edwin Abraham Zaragoza Barajas, 26, and passenger Freddy Alexander Chocoj-Garcia, 25, were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, according to authorities. Another passenger, 24-year-old Jesus Osuna, was hospitalized with serious injuries.

The truck driver was not injured, authorities said.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Parmer County crash at this time. The accident is still under investigation.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When people hear that a pickup carrying three men was hit by a semi-truck while turning onto the highway, their first question is usually, “How could something like that happen?” That’s the right question to ask, but it has more than one possible answer, and we can’t assume the driver of either vehicle was automatically at fault. To get to the truth, investigators will need to go beyond what’s currently in the crash report.

According to early reports, the crash happened around 1 a.m., when a GMC Yukon was turning left onto U.S. Highway 60 from FM 3140. That’s when it was struck by an eastbound Freightliner 18-wheeler. Two of the Yukon’s occupants were killed at the scene, and a third was seriously injured. The truck driver reportedly wasn’t hurt.

At this point, it’s not clear whether the Yukon pulled into the truck’s path or whether the truck was traveling too fast to avoid the collision. Without that information, we don’t yet know who had the legal right of way. That’s not something that can be assumed just because the truck had a straight path. It depends on speed, visibility, and whether either driver had time to react. These are questions that only an in-depth investigation can answer.

One critical piece of that puzzle is the truck’s engine control module (ECM), which logs key data like speed, throttle position and braking activity in the moments leading up to a crash. Another is whether the truck had a dash cam or in-cab camera system, which many fleets now install to verify what the driver saw and how they responded. Cell phone records could also tell us whether the truck driver was distracted. All of this is discoverable, but only if someone obtains and preserves it.

The time of the crash also raises concerns about visibility and driver alertness. Was fatigue a factor? Did either driver fail to yield because they didn’t see the other vehicle in time? Those questions can’t be answered without looking at the lighting at that intersection, checking for sightline obstructions and examining whether either vehicle had its lights on. Again, this is where a thorough scene investigation matters.

Finally, there’s the role of the trucking company. What kind of training and oversight do they provide? How do they evaluate drivers before sending them out at night, when visibility and fatigue become real safety concerns? I’ve handled cases where companies hired drivers with histories of poor judgment and then failed to supervise them. If that turns out to be a factor here, then accountability could extend beyond just the man behind the wheel.

The bottom line is that we can’t rush to conclusions. A fatal crash like this deserves a careful, evidence-driven investigation, not assumptions.

Key Takeaways:

• It’s still unclear whether the turning vehicle failed to yield or the truck was traveling too fast to stop.
• The truck’s black box, dash cams and driver phone records are key to understanding what really happened.
• Nighttime crashes raise important questions about visibility, driver alertness and lighting at the scene.
• Trucking company hiring and training practices may also come under scrutiny depending on what the evidence shows.
• Getting to the truth means asking the right questions and collecting the right data, not just taking early reports at face value.