A Texas girl who died Tuesday morning in a car crash was reportedly killed minutes after posing for a picture commemorating her first day of fourth grade.
State troopers confirmed that Payton Lynn Crustner, 9, had the bottom part of her seatbelt on but was ejected from the vehicle during a two-car collision on Farm-to-Market Road 225 in Rusk County. Crustner was in a 2017 Nissan Sentra that veered to avoid a 2016 GMC Sierra pickup that was traveling in the opposite direction and unexplainedly swerved into their lane, according to KETK.
While the Nissan’s driver, Miranda Michelle Clark, 32, had her seatbelt on, Crustner’s 16-year-old brother and an unidentified 3-year-old passenger weren’t wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident, police said.
Clark and the toddler were hospitalized and released. Police are investigating the crash, according to the news station.
Crustner was pronounced dead at the scene while her brother is being hospitalized in critical condition. Friends of the family told KTBS that the teen’s in the ICU.
A Facebook donation page for the 9-year-old’s family indicated that she was killed 10 minutes after taking a first-day-of-school picture. As of Friday, the fundraiser has brought in nearly $16,000.
The page read, “Payton Lynn Crustner, 9 years old, was taken from this world this morning before her first day of 4th grade, please keep this family in your prayers.”
[Featured Image: Payton Lynn Crustner/Facebook]