A two-vehicle accident on Monday, Dec. 1 in Brown County claimed the life of a Coleman teenager.

Samantha Johnson, 17, was one of three people in a 1996 Ford Escort that was traveling northbound on US Highway 67 at Mile Marker 558 at 11:57 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 1. A 2019 Freightliner Sprint truck was following the Ford Escort in the same lane.

The Texas Department of Public Safety investigation revealed that the driver of the Freightliner became distracted by looking at a cell phone mounted in the vehicle, which led to a collision with the Ford Escort. After the impact, the Ford Escort traveled through a wire fence and came to rest in a pasture.

Johnson, who was riding in the back seat, perished in the accident, and the driver of the Ford Escort, 64-year-old Grace Essary Milligan, and front passenger, 66-year-old Claudia Marie Leek, both of Coleman, were transported to Hendrick Medical Center-Brownwood with serious bodily injuries. The driver of the Freightliner, 23-year-old Melvin Leon Joyner of Blue Mound, suffered minor injuries and refused treatment.

This crash is still under investigation, and charges are pending the outcome of the investigation.