Night of fun turns tragic as 4 killed in 3-car crash: 21-year-o...

"Mike (Fraley) is a really good guy," said Frank Gonzalez, Ashley Gonzalez's father... "He's already paying for what happened by losing four friends at once."

Let the excuses begin...again the next "tragedy" is caused by a group of drunks. People around here talk as if this was just some inevitable twist of fate.

These kids should have been home in bed and preparing for school...

Again, five people in a Neon? That's a bit of a tight fit I'd say!

Not to minimize the loss of these young people, but had they had seatbelts on they may have been injured and not killed. I have no patience (or tolerance) for drunk drivers and I will never understand why the drunk always walks away virtually unharmed. My heart, thought, and prayers go out to the families and friends of those involved. What a senseless loss. These were not children and they did not all have to be home to get ready for school.

Yep the father is excusing the behavior and the brother is defending the drunk a** that killed them, this from another article:

"Michael Gonzalez said the Tacoma didn't hit the Neon. It was Chavez who got too close to the Tacoma causing Fraley to lose control of the truck sliding alongside the Neon and eventually rolling over, he said. Because the Neon was on the left lane, it hit the Century going north on the road.

"It wasn't even his fault," he said."

He doesn't get it this Fraley was drinking and driving, he was involved in an accident that killed four people, it doesn't even matter who's fault it was he was there and regardless that makes him equally culpable. Get a clue four people are dead because they chose to drink and drive recklessly!!!

They are blaming one of the kids killed in the accident, very digusting, blame someone who is not here to defend themselves. Some friend.

I have no tolerance for drunk drivers either, I hope they throw the book at him, I also have no tolerance for out of control kids and parents who defend them.

Not surprised

Firt of all, what a sad thing for four young people to lose their lives. Let even say five young people, because one will have to pay the price now. Sure the driver of the one vehicle was intoxicated, but how about the driver that lost his life! Was he intoxicated also? What really happen? Any horse play going on? Nothing good is going to come from these kids partying in the desert, and loading up in a car afterwards. Another question, What in the world was a 16 year old doing out at a party that late on a school night?
Also think about the emergency workers that have to clean up the mess after the party is over.

Once again, the drunk driver lives while others die.

i think schools should start showing pictures of dead and mutilated people who were in car accidents every friday before school lets out. maybe these images would stick in their heads before they drive drunk.

Interesting so many in El Paso know about the "party" locations and local law enforcement doesn't spend time patrolling those areas.
And of course we have the usual sympathy comments for drunks who broke numerous laws and then managed to snuff out their lives.
Maybe if the parents had spent a little more time with them as young drivers and taught them a few things about alcohol and seat belts, there wouldn't be four new caskets being filled.
And who really gives a rip about the colors on the beenie and the misprounced nicknames? The name of the game is education and apparantly there's plenty of dumbness to go around for all these misfits and the families.

I feel for the families of the victims but feel no pain for the drunk driver. These kids should have been home on a school night not out partying.
These parents need to be more responsible for their kids.

It is just so sad to hear a story like this, but it is definetly not a huge shocker.

I am a high school teacher and I see how these high school kids drive. We need to put more restrictions on teenage drivers (Not that they are the only bad drivers). I know I am not gonna let my kids drive til they are older and hopefully more responsible.

God bless the famlies and I am truely sorry for thier loss and hope it is a lesson to others so others will not have to go through the same thing.

It wasn't mikes fault. A car clipped him. Well theyr"e all in heaven now. I miss them all, especially Jesse Noel Acosta (beatles). He tought me how to ride a skatboard. Only 20 years old. Why so young? Me n him were close. I can't stop crying 4 my loss of him n the other ones. Jesse I love yuu, I'm going to miss, you'll always be in my heart!! R.I.P Jesse Noel Acosta (beatles)

Erik, how can you defend Fraley? HE WAS DRUNK AND DRIVING. He knew better than to drink and drive. Alcohol severely affects your motor skills and had Fraley been sober, he may not have over corrected so much and avoided the Neon. All of these people could still be alive had a designated driver been in the picture.

You all act like you all don't know that kids do this every weekend. We like to put our thumb up to the sky and pretend that we can cover the sun with it.

I know that as kids, we did this a lot in LC, in El Paso, in Juarez and across all of these.

We got together on Friday nights. Started partying in LC. Before we knew it, we were in El Paso or Juarez. 6-7 am would roll around and we would be on our way back to LC. Were we drunk? Well, we sure weren't sober. Did we ever get killed? No. We were lucky. Was it right? Maybe not. Were we going to do it regardless of the consequences? The obvious answer was yes. Do we regret having gotten drunk many, many times and having lots of fun? Probably not.

Unfortunately, part of growing up is going through things like this. We make our choices. Some make it through life just fine, others don't make it at all.

If this kid killed other kids while drunk driving. He should suffer the full force of the law.

One thing to keep in mind is that these kids are out drinking and doing drugs. Where are the drugs or booze coming from? Doesn't really matter. The thing is that just like prohibition of anything, the more you prohibit it, the more they will do it.

As I'm sure many would disagree, it might make better sense to have drunk kids at a house party where you don't allow anyone to leave than dead kids after parties that are held outside of your control.

horale vatos.....try and have a house party and serve minors....the ley will come down on you like a ton of bricks.....sabes.??? i have heard of a few parents that have kids over...ages eighteen to early twenties.....they make them leave the keys at the door..and the keys are locked up with the "adults"....i think that is a great idea.....until the neighbors call the cops and they "adults" find themselves in jail for serving alcohol...i guess we would rather these kids be on the street driving and what not...i dont know the answer....but i know that i would rather my kids drank at homje if they have to drink....te watcho

AggieAlumni wrote:

You all act like you all don't know that kids do this every weekend. We like to put our thumb up to the sky and pretend that we can cover the sun with it.
I know that as kids, we did this a lot in LC, in El Paso, in Juarez and across all of these.
We got together on Friday nights. Started partying in LC. Before we knew it, we were in El Paso or Juarez. 6-7 am would roll around and we would be on our way back to LC. Were we drunk? Well, we sure weren't sober. Did we ever get killed? No. We were lucky. Was it right? Maybe not. Were we going to do it regardless of the consequences? The obvious answer was yes. Do we regret having gotten drunk many, many times and having lots of fun? Probably not.
Unfortunately, part of growing up is going through things like this. We make our choices. Some make it through life just fine, others don't make it at all.
If this kid killed other kids while drunk driving. He should suffer the full force of the law.
One thing to keep in mind is that these kids are out drinking and doing drugs. Where are the drugs or booze coming from? Doesn't really matter. The thing is that just like prohibition of anything, the more you prohibit it, the more they will do it.
As I'm sure many would disagree, it might make better sense to have drunk kids at a house party where you don't allow anyone to leave than dead kids after parties that are held outside of your control.

I have to wonder if the driver, or drivers, at fault made a choice for the passengers who were killed.

And no, it doesn't make better sense to have drunk kids at home. Period.

NMSU Student, he wuz drinking and driving but if the car next to him hadn't have hit him they wuldn't have crashed. So its the guy who clipped Fraley should be sentenced.

So, are we saying that dead kids are better than drunk kids supervised by adults? No driving!

I'd take supervised drunk kids every day of the week over unsupervised dead drunk kids.

Don't try to cover the sun with your thumb. Putting your head in the ground or anywhere else doesn't do it either.

"Unfortunately, part of growing up is going through things like this. We make our choices. Some make it through life just fine, others don't make it at all."

I am very grieved for these families losses. But, I'm pretty amazed by some of these comments. Ya'll sound like this was a random accident that could have happened to anyone. No. It was a wrong choice.

Eric, you ask "Why so young"? I'll tell you why so young. If you and your friends don't stop acting irresponsibly, you will have more tragedy in your lives and the lives of your family. This is about your and your parents choices and decisions. Drinking, driving, hanging out in groups of girls and guys by yourselves with nothing to do, late nights....ya'll need to make a decision to act like responsible adults and not gangsters. The first action that you need to do is to take responsibility for your and your friends wrong choices. It was a choice, not something that just happened upon you in the middle of the night. If you continue to make excuses for your wrong behaviors and choices, then you will never change the wrong actions that killed your friends.

And for those "adults" who think that kids all act like this, you are so very, very wrong. It is not a part of growing up for many young people. Neither my husband or I ever did and we never allowed our children to do these things. Sure, we made bad judgments and were not perfect. But drinking, partying, etc...were just not accepted behaviors. And, most importantly, we didn't allow our children to have friends that did these things. We knew where our young adults were while they lived in our home. We had strict requirements of them and of who they were with. We kept them busy with stuff that "meant something". And they are all now grown and responsible, conservative citizens who work hard and serve their communities well. Parents, you DO have a choice in what you allow your kids to do. Make the right one.

A night of drunken fun.

And a typical location reaction to the tragedy caused by all the "fun."

"We don't blame him...He is already paying" (for killing all his friends).

So long for now...until the next drunk driving massacre.

It was really nobody's fault. And texting while driving isn't dangerous, that's all a big lie spread by the government.