Burnet County fiery crash: Williamson County man charged with manslaughter in women's deaths

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Kody Talley

BURNET COUNTY, Texas - A Williamson County man has been arrested and charged in the fiery Burnet County crash that killed five friends in late July.

What we know:

Kody Lane Talley was arrested on August 5 for the July 25 crash and booked into the Burnet County jail on five counts of manslaughter.

Texas DPS troopers responded to the crash on US 281 near Park Road 4 in Burnet County on the evening of July 25.

A preliminary investigation indicates that Talley's 2018 Ram truck, pulling a livestock trailer, was going north on Us 281 when it crossed into the southbound lanes and hit a Chevy Malibu head on. 

The impact caused the truck to continue in an arc, then strike a Mercedes SUV which overturned and caught on fire.

All five people inside the SUV were pronounced dead at the scene.

The drivers and passengers of the other vehicles involved sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

5 young women killed in fiery crash

5 young women killed in fiery crash

A weekend meant for celebration ended in tragedy when five young women were killed in a crash in Burnet County late last month.

Five young women, Jackie Velazco, Desiree Cervantes, Brianna Valadez, Ruby Cruz, and Thalia Salinas, friends since middle school, were driving from Dallas to Kingsland.

They were heading to a lake house to celebrate Thalia’s 23rd birthday. Thalia’s sister said the house was decorated, and the women were about 20 minutes away, but they never made it.

Five names are now placed near the crash site to remember the five women who were intertwined in life, and now, heartbreakingly, in death.