S.A.F.E. - Stay Alive From Education

TATUM - Students made a pilgrimage to the Tatum High School campus Saturday as they laid wreaths and remembered four friends killed in a "tragic car accident" shortly after a football game Friday night.
According to a Department of Public Safety report by Trooper Toby White, three teen-agers and a 20-year-old lost their lives Friday night at 11 p.m., when the 1997 Chevrolet they were passengers in collided with a 1997 GMC pickup driven by one of the victim's brothers.

Kasey Jo Moraw, 20; Jaicey Robberson, 16; Rachel Reid, 15; and McKinsey Blalock, 14, all of Tatum, were pronounced dead at the scene by Bonnie Miller, Rusk County Precinct 2 justice of the peace.

According to White's report, David Reid, 18, of Tatum, was driving northbound on Texas Highway 149 when Ms. Robberson and her passengers pulled out of a private drive headed south on the highway.

The report indicates Reid was in the inside lane and veered to the outside lane as Ms. Robberson pulled out of the private drive, just two miles north of Tatum.

White said the front seat passenger in Ms. Robberson's vehicle was ejected, but the other three teens were trapped in the car as it caught fire.

Principal Debbie Maxey said the tragedy that struck her school district and the community was unimaginable and difficult.

"All four of these girls were very outgoing and this is a loss. This (Tatum) is such a close-knit school district and community and to lose just one is tragic, but to lose four at once is more than we could have imagined," she said.

Mrs. Maxey said Ms. Reid and Ms. Robberson were cheerleaders, who had just cheered at the Friday night football game with Spring Hill High School.

"We lost a graduate, one in the 11th, one in the 10th and one in the ninth grade. Jaicey, Rachel and McKinsey were all on the cross country team and were supposed to compete today. This is just a tragedy," she said.

Mrs. Maxey said David Reid was a 2003 graduate of the school district and that all three teens killed were honor students.

She said on Monday the school will have counselors for any student wishing to talk about the accident.

"There were members of the clergy on hand today to counsel, but Monday we will have more counselors to help the students. Sometime later in the week we will have a memorial for all four girls," she said.

Reid remains in serious condition in Good Shepherd Medical Center in Longview.

DPS officials said the investigation is ongoing.