A fatal crash over the weekend killed a bowling teen, leaving the community in mourning.
Travis Hughes, a 17-year-old student at Bowling High School, was driving a 1999 Dodge Ram pickup truck northbound on County Road 135 near Wharton early Sunday morning when his vehicle left the road on the right side before correcting. Overload to the left and roll.
The truck rolled once onto its right side, ejecting Hughes from the vehicle, said Sergeant Stephen Woodard of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Sgt. Woodard also noted that the speed limit along the stretch of CR 135 where the accident occurred is listed at 45 mph and the accident occurred at approximately 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
Hughes was taken to Oak Bend Medical Center in Fort Bend County, where he was pronounced dead.
“He was a big, spiritual guy,” Bolling High School athletic director Kevin Urbanek said of Hughes. “He went to everything, dressed up for all of the Spirit Days, so he supported our athletic program.”
Even though Hughes has not been at BHS long, his presence will be greatly missed by the community, Urbanek said.
“He’s one of those kids that’s very popular with the students,” Urbanek said. He was the kind of kid who was everyone’s friend. He moved here about a year and a half ago, two years ago from Georgia.
“He was a friend to everyone,” Urbanek reiterated. “He was one of those guys. Everyone knew him at school and he was always smiling and having a good time.
Urbanek added that the loss was already being felt throughout the school’s athletic program.
“It affected us,” Urbanek said. “All of our soccer players and all our girls athletes, I mean he became a friend to everyone. So our soccer players have to deal with this tragic loss, and our girls’ sports programs have to deal with it. It’s hard to see high school kids going through this, losing a teammate and a friend in such a way.” This young age.
“He had a lot of life to go.”
Bowling High School held an assembly Monday morning in memory of Hughes, where some local businesses began fundraising to help the family offset funeral costs.
One such fundraiser is organized by South Burr Designs, which sells “Bulldog Family” T-shirts and donates half of the proceeds to the Hughes family.
The shirts retail for $20, and those interested in purchasing one are asked to message South Burr Design’s social media page with their preferred size. Payments are accepted via Venmo, CashApp, and PayPal.
“(Hughes’) father and brother were there,” Urbanek said of the gathering, adding, “Everyone started the grieving process together. We had a memorial for him and then had a very quiet, sombre day. It’s a tragedy. We’re here to help everyone in the student body get through this.”
No information was available on the cause of the accident at the time of printing.
Some reports circulating online indicated Hughes was involved in a crash that killed an El Campo man and sent two passengers, one from each vehicle, to the hospital.
Sgt. Woodard said these reports were inaccurate and confirmed that the accident was a single-car wreck.
