Beverly Brown was on her way to work, driving down the same road she's traveled thousands of times before. But this time was tragically different. Brown was involved in an accident Monday morning that ended her life. State troopers said Houston Earnest of Mineral Wells crossed into Brown's lane, causing a head-on car wreck with her pickup truck. Brown was an educator at Rio Vista Elementary School in Johnson County, 50 miles south of her home in Weatherford.
Brown drove 50 miles every day from her home in Weatherford just so she could teach kids at Rio Vista Elementary. "She loved the children and the children loved her," said friend Jan Jones. Brown taught first-graders for more than two decades. Youngsters throughout the school district are mourning the loss. High schoolers sent a banner to the principal on Tuesday remembering their mentor from years past. Brown was planning on retiring soon so she could help care for another grandchild on the way. Houston Earnest is being treated for serious injuries at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Investigators are trying to determine if Earnest was distracted at the time of the accident.
Condolences to all the friends, family, and students of Beverly Brown. This lady was evidently one in a million with a passionate love for children. Most of the road that Brown was killed on is only two lanes. So, if you mix a distracted driver with this road most of the times it will result in a head on traffic accident that typically will have the same results of this crash. Distracted driving is the highest percentage of traffic accident fatalities and it accounts for more deaths than drunk driving, texting while driving has increased from 8% in 2004 to 11% in 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. There is a good chance that Houston Earnest was not paying attention to the road and because of that it had a horrific consequence.
