KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — An 18-year-old Louisiana man has been charged with two counts of manslaughter in the deaths of two construction workers who were struck on Interstate 20 in Kaufman County on August 8, 2017.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — An 18-year-old Louisiana man has been charged with two counts of manslaughter in the deaths of two construction workers who were struck on Interstate 20 in Kaufman County on August 8, 2017.
18-year-old Austin Wayne Ducote, of Louisiana, was booked into the Kaufman County Jail yesterday evening on two charges of manslaughter with $50,000 bonds on each charge.
On August 8, 2017, according to a crash report obtained by inForney.com, Ducote reported he fell asleep at the wheel while proceeding into a construction area on Interstate 20, when he drove off the road into the left shoulder, then into the grassy median, before striking the center cable median.
Ducote's vehicle then struck another vehicle from behind which in turn struck another vehicle. The impact forced the vehicles into two construction vehicles.
Three construction workers were injured in the crash. They were employees of Massana Construction of Frisco, Texas, a Texas Department of Transportation contractor, which was awarded a contract to install a cable barrier in the highway’s median from the Van Zandt County line to Rosehill Road in Terrell.
58-year-old Michael James Keyser was transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas, and was later pronounced deceased that same day. 38-year-old Nathaniel Ryan Keyser was also transported to Parkland and was pronounced deceased on August 12, 2017, according to the report.
Ducote, who was 17 year old at the time of the crash, according to the report, was initially ticketed for failure to control speed, failure to drive in a single lane, and disregarding warning signs or barricades in a construction zone with workers.