DALLAS – A young woman is fighting for her life nearly a month after a deadly hit-and-run, pile-up crash in Dallas.
Camryn Herriage was in a car with her college roommate and three other friends when they were struck while waiting at a light on Feb. 11. She’s still on a ventilator. Her friend was killed.
Police arrested the woman they say caused the crash and ran off on foot.
Herriage recently graduated from Texas Tech University in December and moved back to North Texas. She has her own Dallas apartment and an incredible circle of friends.
It was supposed to be a new chapter in life for the 23-year-old. But now, Herriage is fighting for her life in the ICU on a ventilator.
Herriage’s older sister, Casie Campanello, hasn’t left her side for weeks waiting for the day she wakes up.
“Literally, a careless act. Put us in a situation that changed all of our lives,” she said. “We are very helpless and just stay strong for her, but it’s very difficult to see.”
Back on Feb. 11, Herriage and her five friends were waiting at the stoplight at Beckley Avenue where Woodall Rogers Freeway ends.
Dallas police say a Ford pickup truck slammed into the back of their vehicle, causing a chain reaction crash.
Herriage and four others were rushed to the hospital, but her roommate at Texas Tech, Sara House, was killed.
The hit-and-run crash took place just two blocks from Herriage’s apartment.
“Makes me wonder if they weren’t there and how close they were to their home,” Campanello said.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, witnesses called 911 stating a woman exited the driver’s side of the truck “wearing a small black dress and white clubbing shoes. The woman also appeared to be extremely intoxicated.”
That woman who took off from the scene on foot was later identified by police as 27-year-old Carmen Guerrero.
Detectives located Guerrero’s wallet in the abandoned truck and took her into custody last week, 11 days after the crash.
Friday, Campanello says her focus isn’t on the investigation or forgiveness, only on her little sister and her future.
“When she came out of her first surgery, the surgeon told us he told us he never saw anyone make it to the hospital with her injury,” she said. “So she has a purpose.”
Guerrero faces multiple charges including manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She remains in the Dallas County jail.
