Man Charged with Deaths of 5 Texas Women Killed in Car Crash

A Texas man has been taken into custody nearly two weeks after a car crash that killed five women who were celebrating a birthday trip.

On July 25, five women in their early 20s and driving in an SUV were killed after a pickup truck pulling a livestock trailer allegedly crossed into oncoming traffic on U.S. 281 around 6 p.m. in Burnet County, according to CBS News Texas, ABC affiliate KVUE and FOX affiliate KTBC.

The truck struck a Chevy Malibu before colliding with a Mercedes SUV, as the SUV overturned, caught fire and killed all five people inside. The victims have since been identified by the Texas Department of Public Safety as Thalia Salinas, Ruby Cruz, Brianna Valadez, Desiree Cervantez and Jacqueline Velazco, per KVUE and KTBC.

Kody Lane Talley, 37, was arrested on Tuesday, Aug. 5, per KTBC.

The Leander man, identified as the owner of the 2018 Ram truck, was booked into Burnet County Jail and has been charged with five counts of manslaughter, according to the outlets.

The DPS did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for further information on Thursday, Aug. 7. It is unclear if Talley has legal representation to comment on his behalf.

The women, all in their early 20s, were on a weekend trip to Kingsland to celebrate Salinas’ 23rd birthday. In a statement to CBS News, Salinas’ family said they had been friends since middle school.

“Words can’t describe how devastated we are,” the statement read. “We were en route to celebrate Thalia’s birthday in Kingsland, Texas, at her favorite place — on the lake — with all her favorite people. Then we got news of the girls’ passing away in the worst accident we could ever imagine. We will never recover from losing Thalia, Brianna, Ruby, Jackie and Desi.”

In a separate Facebook post, a family member of Salinas shared an additional statement — calling the women’s deaths a “sudden and very tragic passing” and writing that the family was “incredibly grateful for the outpouring of love, kind messages, and support during this time.”

GoFundMe campaigns have since been shared for all five women, with the Salinas family revealing that Thalia had just become an aunt and was “witty, intelligent, loyal, and the true manager of our household, always keeping us all in line.”

“She was an amazing daughter, sister, niece, aunt, granddaughter, coworker and friend to SO many that loved her,” the GoFundMe continued. “She was full of life, and this loss has left a void that can never be filled.”

The family of Valadez, who was about to begin nursing school, wrote on GoFundMe that they were “navigating a pain that words can’t truly express.”

“We will carry Bri’s light with us always, and we will keep telling her story—because she deserves to be remembered for how brightly she lived.”

The five names of the women now appear written on custom hearts, displayed along the crash site, per footage shared by KTBC. DPS said, per CBS News, that an investigation into the crash is ongoing.