Three people were killed late Saturday night in two separate, unrelated crashes just miles apart in Deep East Texas — one on Highway 96 North in Jasper County and another on State Highway 87 in Newton County. Both scenes drew a heavy response from local deputies, state troopers and first responders as the Texas Department of Public Safety took over the investigations into what happened on each stretch of rural highway.
The Jasper County crash happened in front of the Sheep Saloon on Highway 96 North, killing one person, according to KFDM, which cited Jasper County Sheriff Chuck Havard. Deputies, troopers and other first responders worked the scene through the night, and both lanes of the highway stayed shut down until roughly 2:30 a.m. Sunday before crews reopened the roadway, per 12NewsNow.
About 10:20 p.m. that same Saturday, a second fatal crash unfolded on State Highway 87 in the Pine Grove community of Newton County, killing two people, according to KFDM's report citing Newton County Sheriff Colton Havard. DPS is overseeing both investigations, and the agency said it would release additional details later Sunday, per the same report.
A Father-Son Sheriff Team Covering Two Counties at Once
The near-simultaneous emergencies fell to a unique law enforcement pairing in the region: Chuck Havard and Colton Havard are a father and son who made Texas history in 2024 when they were elected sheriffs of neighboring Jasper and Newton counties, according to 12NewsNow's earlier reporting on their election. Chuck Havard spent 25 years as a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper before moving into county law enforcement, the outlet reported at the time.
The two sheriffs regularly coordinate cross-border operations, including joint missing-person cases and regional criminal investigations, according to a report on the department's Facebook page. That kind of routine collaboration meant both offices were already accustomed to working alongside each other when their counties faced fatal crashes on the same night, just on different highways.
Jurisdiction Splits Between Local Deputies and State Troopers
On rural state and federal highways like these, the Texas Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol serves as the lead agency for fatal crash investigations, deploying specialized crash reconstruction teams while county sheriff's offices handle scene safety and local traffic control, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety statement posted to Facebook. That division of labor is why DPS, rather than either sheriff's office, is expected to release the fuller account of what caused each crash.
Neither the specific vehicles involved nor the mechanics of either collision had been detailed as of Sunday morning, and it remained unclear whether weather, speed or alcohol played a role in either crash pending DPS's forthcoming release.
A Highway With a Recent History of Deadly Crashes
Saturday night's fatality was not an isolated event along that stretch of road. On May 25, a head-on, two-vehicle collision near the Jasper city limits on U.S. Highway 96 killed two people and left another critically injured, according to a CBS19 report from earlier this year. Days before Saturday's crash, on August 21, an 18-wheeler caught fire five miles south of Kirbyville on Highway 96, forcing crews to shut the highway down in both directions, according to The Wooley Law Firm.
In late July, a pickup truck ran off Highway 96 about six miles north of Jasper and crashed into the woods, prompting a response from the Lake Rayburn Volunteer Fire Department, according to a report from KFDM's Facebook page. Texas Department of Public Safety officials warned in June that unsafe passing and excessive speed on two-lane rural highways remain top contributing factors in the state's deadliest multi-fatality collisions, according to a report from KWTX, noting that these roads typically lack physical medians separating opposing lanes of traffic.
Jasper County recorded nine fatal crashes and 10 deaths on rural highways in 2023, according to crash data from the Texas Department of Transportation. Both Jasper and Newton counties were also under official burn bans in late August due to dry summer conditions, according to 12NewsNow, adding to an already active weekend for regional first responders.
Details on the identities of the three victims had not been released as of Sunday morning. DPS said it planned to share more information about both crashes later in the day.
