Two 20-year-old women killed when SUV crashes into tree, TX cops say. Driver arrested
Two young women are dead after a fiery SUV crash, and the driver is under arrest, Texas authorities told news outlets.
Jessica Ludwig and JaLiyah Stevenson, both 20-year-old Killeen residents, were riding in a Mazda CX-5 at about 3:20 a.m. Sunday, March 9, when it veered off the road, crashed into a tree and caught fire, KWTX reported, citing the state Department of Public Safety. The crash happened near Hamilton.
Stevenson and Ludwig were thrown from the vehicle on impact and pronounced dead at the scene, authorities told the station. A 20-year-old male passenger was critically injured, and the driver, 21-year-old Tavajenne Capers, sustained minor injuries and was able to get out of the vehicle, the outlet reported.
Capers was arrested at the scene on two counts of intoxicated manslaughter, the Killeen Daily Herald reported. She was jailed in Hamilton County but has bonded out.
Ludwig and Stevenson were friends who were in cheer together in high school, friends and family told KCEN.
“They were my babies,” Arniece Venee Wheeler, a former geometry teacher and assistant cheer coach, told the station. “You feel like you birthed them. I’m having a hard time... it’s still unreal to me.”
Wheeler told the outlet that Ludwig was fun-loving but “dedicated, and never afraid to be different,” and remembers Stevenson for her “contagious smile and fierce personality.”
“Heaven gained two sweet angels, and the best part is they cheered together, and now they get to cheer in heaven together,” Wheeler said to KCEN.
Ludwig was a communications and marketing technician for Killeen Independent School District, her social media shows, and she was engaged to be married.
“She was such an incredible person and I couldn’t wait for her to be my sister-in-law,” Lauren Newby said in a Facebook post. “She was also a daughter, sister, best friend, and fiancée. Gone too soon at 20 years young, but forever in our hearts. God called her home and we will still praise Him in this storm.”
Delia Stevenson, JaLiyah Stevenson’s grandmother, took to social media to mourn her family’s loss and also share a warning.
“It is with a heart filled with pain that we have to say see you soon to my beautiful granddaughter Ms. Ja’liyah Stevenson. Such a strong young woman. Yet so very sweet,” Delia Stevenson wrote. “People please think before you get into a car after drinking … this is what it cost me and my family.”
Killeen is a roughly 150-mile drive southwest from Fort Worth.
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 12:25 PM with the headline "Two 20-year-old women killed when SUV crashes into tree, TX cops say. Driver arrested."