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Woman dies from injuries suffered in post-Lone Star Rally crash
09:44 AM CST on Wednesday, December 17, 2008
GALVESTON — A woman critically injured in a motorcycle wreck after leaving the Lone Star Rally has died, a relative said Tuesday.
Crystal Lachelle Stephens, 35, of Beaumont died Monday afternoon at Memorial Hermann Hospital after her devastated family decided to remove her from life-support.
Ruby Ferguson said her granddaughter never regained consciousness after the wreck at 6:31 p.m. Sunday on 25th Street in Galveston.
Stephens was a passenger on a motorcycle driven by John Michael Venable, 30, of Orlando, Fla., whom police have charged with driving under the influence. That charge could be upgraded, Galveston police said.
Stephens, a mother of four with children ages 9 to 14, left her Beaumont home with Venable, Ferguson said. The two worked together in Beaumont, where Stephens drove equipment to load trucks, Ferguson said.
The two attended the rally, which ended at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Venable lost control of the motorcycle when it made contact with trolley tracks that run in one lane of the road, police concluded in a preliminary probe.
Stephens, who wasn’t wearing a helmet, suffered a head injury when she was thrown from the motorcycle.
A medical helicopter carried her to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.
Hurricane Ike, which caused severe flooding and damaged much of the upper Texas coast, delayed the rally by more than a month and also reduced the University of Texas Medical Branch to from a Level 1 trauma center to an urgent care facility.
Police said the medical branch stabilized Stephens to prepare her for the flight to Houston.
Ferguson said the family is devastated.
“Oh Lord, yes,” Ferguson said. “It’s killing my daughter. That was her only daughter.”
Stephens’ family has attempted to donate her organs and are in the process of establishing a memorial fund.
A police report listed Stephens as 33 years old with the last name of Peltier, but her grandmother said she was 35 and that Stephens had recently changed her name.
The family was expecting to receive Stephens’ body today and was making funeral arrangements, Ferguson said. Stephens will be buried in her hometown of Livingston, Ferguson said.
Police have received no other reports of fatal accidents involving an estimated 100,000 bikers who attended the four-day rally.
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This story is available through KHOU, Ch. 11's partnership with The Galveston County Daily News. |
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