A Jeep ran a stop sign near Sinton on Saturday. A pickup truck hit it hard. Five people in the Jeep died. State troopers are still looking into what went wrong.

The crash happened about 8:30 a.m. Saturday, July 18. It was at the corner of the US 77 access road and Highway 89. That is just outside Sinton, in San Patricio County. It is about 20 miles from Corpus Christi. Troopers say a 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee was going south on the access road. DPS says the Jeep did not stop at the stop sign there. A 2011 Toyota Tundra truck was going south on Highway 89. The Tundra slammed into the side of the Jeep.

All five people in the Jeep died. DPS named the driver as Samantha Cruz, 37, of Corpus Christi. The other four who died were Sara Cruz, 63, Sonia Montes, 64, Sallie Montes, 61, and Ruben Cruz, 68. A helicopter flew Ruben Cruz to a hospital. He died there. Stacy Martinez of Corpus Christi said she lost her mother, aunt, uncle and cousin in the crash. The wreck took most of her family in a single morning. A close friend, Pete Trevino, is now helping raise money to bury them.

The Tundra driver was a 46-year-old man from San Antonio. His two sons rode with him. They are 15 and 11 years old. None of the three got hurt badly. Crews took them to a hospital just to be safe.

Troopers from the Sinton DPS office are working the case. DPS has not put out a final finding on why the Jeep ran the stop sign. The case is still open.

This is not the first bad wreck at that spot. San Patricio County Sheriff Oscar Rivera says the crossing has a long history of crashes. "We started taking note in 2019 about this intersection that continues to kill people," Rivera said. Records show 89 crashes there in the last 10 years. The sheriff wants drivers to slow down and stop fully at the sign.

State road crews have a fix planned. TxDOT plans to put in a traffic light there within a year. The plan first came up back in 2021. It is part of a bigger road project through Sinton. For this family, that light comes too late. It will not bring back the five people lost this month.

A Corpus Christi group is stepping up to help. The Big Bertha Foundation is run by Pete Trevino. The group will hold a fundraiser on Sunday, August 2. It will be at the VFW on Ayers Street in Corpus Christi. Food sales start at 11 a.m. and run until the food is gone. Trevino says his group has never had to raise money for five funerals at once before now. People can also give money online at bigberthafoundation.org.

DPS says the crash is still under investigation. Troopers have not put out a final report yet. El Tejano will share more facts as they come out.