Update (January 14, 2026): Authorities have identified the woman injured in this accident as Mayrani Martinez Morales.

West Odessa, TX — January 12, 2026, Jorge Zapata was killed and another person was injured in a truck accident at about 6 a.m. on F.M. 866.

Authorities said a southbound Peterbilt semi-truck when a northbound 2025 GMC Sierra collided with its trailer. The pickup also hit a 2003 Ford F-150 that was stopped at the intersection.

GMC driver Jorge Zapata, 27, of Odessa died at the scene of the crash, according to authorities, while his passenger was hospitalized with serious injuries.

The Ford driver suffered minor injuries, authorities said, and the Peterbilt driver was not hurt.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Ector County crash at this time.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When people hear about a deadly crash involving a pickup and a semi-truck, their first question is usually, “How does something like this even happen?” From the brief reports available, we know a pickup collided with the trailer of a Peterbilt 18-wheeler, then struck another pickup stopped at an intersection. But what’s missing, what’s always missing early on, is a clear explanation of how the vehicles came to be in each other’s paths in the first place.

Right now, it's not clear whether the semi-truck was turning, backing or simply driving straight when the GMC pickup hit the trailer. That one detail matters a lot. If the 18-wheeler was already in the road and the pickup failed to avoid it, that raises a different set of questions than if the truck moved into the GMC’s lane without warning. Unfortunately, police summaries rarely fill in those kinds of gaps. That’s why a proper investigation has to go much deeper.

To get answers, you have to look beyond the surface. The first place I’d look is the semi-truck’s black box, or engine control module. That device can show speed, braking, steering input and other critical data in the moments leading up to the collision. If the truck had dash cameras or in-cab video, and many do, those can also reveal what the driver saw and did. And if distraction played a role, phone records can confirm whether the truck driver was on a call or texting when the crash happened.

We also don’t yet know whether the semi-truck was making a legal maneuver at the time, whether the trailer had proper lighting or reflectors or whether any part of it was extending into the pickup’s lane. Depending on whether the crash happened at or near the intersection, or well beyond it, different legal responsibilities come into play. That’s something that needs to be nailed down with a thorough scene reconstruction.

Beyond the crash itself, it’s also worth asking what kind of company put this driver on the road. Did they vet him properly? Was he trained to operate safely in low-light or high-traffic conditions like the early morning hours when this happened? I’ve handled cases where the driver’s mistakes were only half the story. The real issue was a company that cut corners on training or ignored past red flags in the driver’s record. Those failures only come to light when someone pulls all the records — driver logs, personnel files, hiring policies — and sees how the puzzle pieces fit together.

None of this is about pointing fingers blindly. It’s about finding out which decisions, by which people or companies, set the events of this crash in motion. Only once the facts are in can the right parties be held to account.

Key Takeaways:

• It's unclear from current reports what the semi-truck was doing at the time of the crash, which is central to understanding how the collision happened.
• Black box data, dash cameras and phone records are crucial tools to clarify the truck driver's actions and potential distractions.
• The physical layout, especially whether the trailer obstructed the pickup's path, needs to be reconstructed to determine right-of-way and visibility.
• A full investigation should examine the trucking company’s hiring, training and safety oversight practices.
• Getting to the truth requires collecting and analyzing all available evidence, not assumptions based on early headlines.