The Police News / Jamie Nash
October 17, 2009

CONROE - A major accident in that occurred in Conroe around 10:15 a.m. on Friday left three people dead and sent an area teen to jail. The crash occurred at Porter Rd. (FM 1314) and S. Loop 336.

The dead are identified as Craig Rector, 50, his 20-year-old daughter, Felicia Hicks and her common-law husband, Freedom Fitch, 24. All three were Splendora residents. Rector was a father of five; Hicks and Fitch shared a 2-year-old daughter, Annabelle who was not with them at the time of the crash.

According to police, the victims were in a Mazda sedan traveling northbound on FM 1314 when witnesses say a Dodge Ram 3500 Dually pickup driven by 18-year-old Casey McKinley of Grangerland was traveling at a high rate of speed eastbound on Loop 336 and ran a red light where those roads intersect. The pickup struck the side of the Mazda and pushed it into an older model Mercedes sedan that stopped in the westbound lanes of Loop 336 waiting to turn onto FM 1314. Another westbound vehicle was also struck when the Mercedes slid into it.

McKinley and the driver of one of the westbound vehicles were taken by ground ambulances to a local hospital. McKinley was treated and released to law enforcement. Although police said they did not believe alcohol was a factor in the crash, blood was drawn to be tested as is standard procedure.

One of the Mazda's three occupants was pronounced dead on the scene, a second was pronounced dead at an area hospital and a third was flown by PHI Air Medical to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, and pronounced dead at that hospital.

The Conroe Police Department Community Oriented Response Team is investigating.

McKinley, a 2009 graduate of Caney Creek High School, was arrested and charged with three counts of manslaughter. McKinley does not have a criminal record as an adult, according to Public Data. He is a student at Texas A&M, Galveston. His bond totals $150,000.

(L-R) Fitch, Hicks and Rector