Fort Worth, TX — October 1, 2024, Tory Slack was killed as the result of an 18-wheeler accident at around 9:00 p.m. on I-35W.
According to initial details, the accident happened on the southbound service road of the South Freeway, just off Felix Street near the Loop 820 interchange.
Investigators said that 42-year-old Tory Jermaine Slack was in a Nissan Altima traveling along the service road. Up ahead, an 18-wheeler reportedly made a right turn across service road lanes out of a private drive. As the truck turned, Slack’s vehicle crashed into the side of the trailer.
Slack was killed due to the accident. Authorities did not say if they were considering any charges or citations.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
Frankly, I’m a bit surprised authorities haven’t mentioned any potential charges or citations. Is there something unique about this crash they haven’t said publicly? I’ve handled hundreds of commercial vehicle accident cases, and many of the ones with details like these involved truck drivers who were distracted, being impatient, or were inexperienced and made a stupid mistake that got someone killed. Maybe that isn’t what happened here, but my concern is this could be a situation where authorities aren’t letting the evidence speak for itself. Sometimes, authorities give a negligent truck driver far too much leeway to warp the story and wrongfully shift blame onto the victim. Without measures in place to set the record straight, this can be seriously harmful to a family that’s already been through too much.
I had a case not long ago that’s a clear example of this. An 18-wheeler was turning across a dark highway, resulting in a car crashing into the trailer. The story the family got from the initial reports was that the victim had been speeding, wasn’t wearing their seatbelt, and failed to slow down to avoid the collision. They knew their loved one was a safe driver, so they wanted us to correct the record. Through a more thorough independent investigation, we did just that.
For one, a reconstruction of the crash scene and data from the victim’s vehicle clearly showed they were going at reasonable speeds prior to the collision. Secondly, the victim absolutely had their seatbelt on. We knew this because numerous emergency responders testified they had to cut through the seatbelt to get the victim out of the vehicle. Third, we found a key detail authorities completely overlooked in their investigations. The trailer that was blocking the roadway had reflective tape which was so caked in dirt that it was practically useless. The trailer would have been all but invisible when the victim hit it.
It was only after producing extensive, convincing evidence proving the victim couldn’t have avoided the collision that the family got a just resolution for the wrongs done to them. The reality is that’s almost always what’s required after serious truck accidents. It could be that independent investigations only confirm that police already have all the facts. That alone can be a significant weight off a family’s shoulders. But if there are details not being looked into here, that needs to be addressed before something important slips through the cracks.
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