The crash has drawn scrutiny on the trucking company’s history of safety violations and alleged falsification of records.
DALLAS — A Kaufman County grand jury has indicted a truck driver on multiple felony charges stemming from a June 28 crash on Interstate 20 near Terrell that killed five people.
Alexis Osmani Gonzalez-Companioni, 27, faces five counts of manslaughter and four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The grand jury also indicted an official with Hope Trans, the company the driver was working for, on a felony forgery charge in connection with the truck’s falsified registration, known as a “cab card,” according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.
The name of the official was not released publicly because the person has not been taken into custody.
WFAA also obtained inspection records through Bluewire, a company that collects crash and inspection data.
Those records show that the driver received seven violations following the crash. The details of those violations were not available.
“I don’t imagine the grand jury spent much time in reaching their decision,” said John Nohinek of the Witherite Law Group. He represents a relative of the four family members who died in the crash. “Part of justice is making sure that truck driver is held accountable from a criminal standpoint for destroying this family.”
The fatal crash involved seven vehicles, including three 18-wheelers and four passenger vehicles.
Investigators said Gonzalez-Companioni, who was transporting a U.S.Postal Service load, failed to brake and slammed into slowed traffic in a construction zone. Court records show he told investigators he fell asleep at the wheel.
The victims include four members of the same family:
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Billy McKellar, 79, of Tyler
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Zabar McKellar, 52, of Fort Worth
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Krishaun McKellar, 45, of Fort Worth
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Kason McKellar, 16, of Fort Worth
Nicole Gregory, 49, of Dallas, was also killed.
The crash has brought increased scrutiny to Hope Trans LLC. Previous reporting by WFAA revealed a pattern of safety violations at the company, which was subcontracted by Covenant Logistics to haul U.S. mail.
Former drivers have alleged the company pressured them to violate federal safety regulations, including falsifying logbooks, backdating paperwork, and exceeding legal driving hours.
WFAA was the first to report that Gonzalez-Companioni was hauling a postal service load that left a distribution center outside Atlanta. Postal rules require two drivers for long hauls over 500 miles.
In this case, there was only one.
“The USPS does have this history of not being aware, often who has their loads, which is troubling,” said Zach Cahalan, executive director of the Truck Safety Coalition.
The group is pushing for passage of a new law called the Mail Traffic Deaths Reporting Act.
It would force the postal service and its contractors to track deadly crashes.
A 2024 audit by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General found the agency “did not always know who was authorized to transport the mail on its behalf.”
That’s largely because the Postal Service uses brokers, who hire trucking companies to haul the loads.
That same audit revealed the Postal Service failed to track accidents and fatalities involving its trucking contractors. Between 2018 and 2022, contract drivers were involved in at least 373 crashes that killed 89 people.
One of those was a 2022 crash that killed five members of one family in Colorado. The driver in that case was unlicensed.
“Most people are completely unaware of how slipshod this operation is, and how people are literally dying needlessly to get the mail by their own government,” Cahalan said.
Meanwhile, Hope Trans is authorized to operate on the nation’s interstates.
Inspection records collected by Bluewire show that a driver for the company was pulled over in Texas this week and cited for a vehicle violation.
Both the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board continue their investigations.
Gonzalez-Companioni remains in the Kaufman County Jail on bonds totaling $2.25 million. Jason Milam, an attorney representing the trucker, filed a motion this week seeking a bail hearing and a bond reduction.
“Alexis Gonzalez-Companioni’s confinement and restraint is illegal because bond is excessive, oppressive and beyond the financial means of Alexis Gonzalez-Companioni,” Milam wrote.
The hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 11.