Youth director dies in one-car accident on I-20
By TRACI SHURLEY Star-Telegram Staff Writer
David Phillips, a youth pastor at Christ Chapel Bible Church in Fort
Worth, was killed Sunday morning in a one-car accident while traveling
on Interstate 20 from his home in Aledo to church.
Phillips, 39, is married; he has no children. He was the only one in
the car, said Rick Neves, chief operating officer of the church, which
is at 3740 Birchman Ave., east of Montgomery Street.
The accident occurred about 7:05 a.m. as Phillips was driving
eastbound on I-20, just past Aledo, according to the Texas Department
of Public Safety office in Mineral Wells.
He lost control on ice and slid into the median, accident reports
said. His 1999 Toyota Forerunner then struck a series of cables in the
median and overturned in the westbound lane. He was ejected from the
vehicle and died at the scene, according to the accident report.
Phillips was not wearing a seat belt, according to the accident report.
Neves said the news of Phillips’ death has been particularly difficult for the young people to whom he ministered.
“Kids naturally are going to be disappointed and have some questions
about why does something like that happen, just like everybody does,”
Neves said.
Phillips had a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, according to the church Web site.
In his biography on the Web site, Phillips wrote that his goals were
to, “Love Christ more each day. Be a great husband. Write a book. Bench
300 [pounds]. Get my doctorate degree. Scuba dive the world.”
Icy conditions were also to blame for a Saturday night accident
in Fort Worth that left a 67-year-old man dead, said Sgt. Rodney Bangs,
of the Fort Worth Police Department’s Traffic Investigation Unit.
Conrad Gamez, of Fort Worth, lost control of the Ford van he was
driving on a bridge in the 5300 block of west Interstate 30 and struck
the retaining wall several times, police said. The accident happened
just before 8 p.m. Gamez died at Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort
Worth about an hour later, according to the Tarrant County Medical
Examiner’s Web site.
Also on Saturday night, a 22-year-old Haltom City man was fatally
injured in an accident in the 2100 block of Handley Drive about 11 p.m.
Adam Hess, 22, died at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth early
Sunday morning, according to the medical examiner’s Web site. The Web
site said Hess’ car struck a building, but Bangs was uncertain of the
details of the accident.
Also online: Tarrant County Medical Examiner, http://www.tarrantcounty.com/eMedicalExaminer/site/default.asp
Traci Shurley, (817) 390-7757
tshurley@star-telegram.com |