Car hits tree in Garland; teen killed

02:04 PM CDT on Monday, August 1, 2005

By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA-TV

Mike Zukerman / WFAA-TV

GARLAND — Police said a 16-year-old boy who received his driver's license just one week ago was behind the wheel Sunday night when the car he was driving hit a tree in a residential neighborhood.

The driver and another young passenger were injured; a 15-year-old passenger was killed.

Witnesses told police the car was speeding in the 700 block of West Muirfield Road when the driver apparently lost control and hit a curb before impact about 10:30 p.m.

"There was a gentleman who was trying to help the passenger," said Debby Rush, one of the neighbors who raced to the aid of the injured teens. "We did our best to give him CPR and mouth-to-mouth once we were able to get him out of the car."

Those desperate attempts weren't enough to save 15-year-old John Hancock, who died a short time later at Baylor Medical Center at Garland.

The car's 16-year-old driver was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, where he was reported in stable condition.

A 14-year old back seat passenger was taken by helicopter ambulance to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas for treatment.

Frustrated neighbors said this is the fourth time a car has crashed in the same spot on West Muirfield Road. They said they hoped their previous appeals for the city to install speed bumps would be reconsidered.

Garland police Lt. Scott Bunch said reports from the last three years document five other nonfatal accidents on Muirfield Road, which runs from North Garland Avenue to East Brand Road.

None were in the 700 block of West Muirfield, he said, but the nearest was in the 400 block of East Muirfield on July 3.

DallasNews.com staff writer Karen Ostergren contributed to this report.

E-mail cvega@wfaa.com