CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A small memorial now sits at North Port Avenue and Broadway where four Ray High School students were involved in a fatal car accident Tuesday afternoon.
18-year-old students Matthew Garcia and Marcello Saldua lost their lives Tuesday when the Camaro they were in lost control and flipped over.
Investigators said a blue Mustang stayed at the scene and the occupants are currently be considered witnesses in the investigation.
The students who died were set to graduate on Friday. Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette Guajardo called the accident a tragedy and said there will be a vigil to pay respect to the victims on Thursday.
"Pray. Pray for our families. Pray for those students, for their eternal rest. Pray for all of the kids, their friends, their families, and so its just a very difficult difficult week right now," Guajardo said. "Between celebrating graduation and then mourning the loss of such young lives so early."
Corpus Christi police are investigating the possibility that speed and street racing may have been contributing factors.
Police say generally street racing is a crime of opportunity, two cars at a stop light, not something planned, but even that can be deadly and the crime carries stiff penalties.
"If you are caught racing, it's not you get a ticket and you go home, It's you get placed into custody, we impound your vehicle, and you go to a city detention center. And from the city detention center you go onto the jail," said Lt. Michael Pena with CCPD.
He explained that there are different degrees for penalties for street racing, starting with a class B misdemeanor. The offense comes with 180 days in jail and up to a $2,000 fine. If someone is killed as a result of street racing, offenders are looking at 2-to-20 years in jail and to a $10,000 fine.
"The follow up investigators are much like homicide detectives. They investigate incidents where someone has lost their life, much like a homicide, those cases could take some time," Pena said. "Those detectives could file a case, present a case to the DA's office."
Like other cities, Pena said Corpus Christi is not immune to the dangers of street racing. The department had previously targeted streets like Ocean Drive with an enhanced officer presence to go after street racers.
If residents are in a situation where street racing could become tempting, Pena urges drivers to consider the consequences before revving their engines.
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