HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – Two of the three people who died after a car hit a pole in north Harris County Wednesday afternoon were varsity football players at Dekaney High School, according to Spring ISD officials.
"It is with profound sadness that we report that two Dekaney High School students died yesterday evening, Dec. 3, in the car accident at I-45 and Parramatta. We have reached out to the families of the students; counselors have been assigned to the campus to assist students and staff in dealing with this tragic loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of these students," the district announced in a released statement.
The driver, Larry Jessamy, was traveling with the students, Sarid Shahdaia and Quincy Williams, when the wreck happened on the northbound feeder lanes of the North Freeway near Paramatta Lane.
Deputies said witnesses told them the Chevy Camaro, driven by Jessamy, was speeding on the feeder road and clipped a van that had exited the freeway and was attempting to make a right onto Paramatta Lane. The car lost control, then rolled over and hit a concrete support column underneath the Paramatta overpass.
Authorities said the driver of the van stayed on the scene for a few minutes but left before deputies arrived. They are now looking to find and question the woman driving the van.
One of the witnesses, Jackie Whaley, happened to be an off-duty first responder.
"I just heard a boom next to me and a bunch of debris next to me," Whaley said. "I thought maybe one of the trucks had fallen off the trailer that was hauling it."
Whaley told Local 2 that she pulled over to help.
"One of them I could see visibly had a pulse," Whaley said. "I started pumping on him but I lost the pulse."
Investigators initially estimated the victims were in their early 20's, but Whaley felt they were younger.
"One of them had a lettermen's jacket," Whaley said. "They were young. You just hate to see stuff like that with the holidays, and in general, but especially right now."
Friends of Jessamy say he was a personal trainer who worked at Legends Sports Complex in the Woodlands. Shahdaia was a junior on Dekaney High football team, jersey number 28, and Williams was a senior who wore jersey number 38.
