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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
