HOUSTON – After completing an investigation, Jasper police released dashboard camera video of a chase that ended in an horrific crash and the deaths of two Houston area teens.
James Taylor, 19, and his sister Shelby, 17, were killed during that high-speed chase earlier this month.
"He dearly loved Shelby and that's why we can't understand we he would put her in danger like that," said Ruth Taylor, the teens' grandmother.
Police said James was behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang when officers tried to pull him over for a traffic violation. Police said they later learned Taylor was wanted for failing to appear in court on a charge of misdemeanor theft.
Police said a 34-year-old friend of the teen was in the passenger seat and Shelby was in the back seat.
The video from one officer's patrol car showed the Mustang driving at a high rate of speed and maneuvered around officers' attempts to stop the car. Officers chased Taylor for several minutes until the teen is seen on video running a red light and being broad-sided by a pick-up truck.
A few minutes after the crash the video shows the Mustang erupting in flames. Taylor and his sister both died during the crash. Their passenger and the driver of the truck survived.
"Shelby just didn't have a chance and that's all I can think about is my granddaughter burned in that back seat," said Ruth Taylor.
Ruth said she later learned Shelby called her mother during the chase to say she was scared.
"You don't know it until you go through it, the heartache," said Ruth. "It's only 'what if' that's going in my mind, if he'd have just stopped."
Taylor said the car her grandson was driving belonged to a friend and he was only supposed to take his sister to Jasper so she could attend a family members funeral in Louisiana.