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"My mom does not deserve this": Man mourns mother, brother killed in deadly Stephenville crash

By and
Published  March 23, 2026 3:55pm CDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 4
article

Barbara Rocha and Alex Aaron Rocha

The Brief

    • A man is mourning the loss of his mother and brother after they were killed in a fatal crash over the weekend.
    • Barbara Rocha and Alex Aaron Rocha died after a driver, identified as Gracie Yates, crashed into the bedroom of their Stephenville home early Sunday morning.
    • Yates was arrested and charged with two counts of criminally negligent homicide. Police did not say if they believed she was intoxicated at the time of the crash.

STEPHENVILLE, Texas - A family is mourning the loss of two family members who were killed when a driver crashed into their Stephenville home in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Stephenville house after crash

Two dead after Stephenville crash

The backstory:

Officers responded to the 200 block of N. Ollie St., near the intersection of W. Green St., at 3:26 a.m. after receiving reports that a vehicle had crashed into a home.

The driver, Gracie Yates, crashed into a bedroom of the home, seriously injuring 7-year-old Alex Aaron Rocha and 49-year-old Barbara Rocha.

Gracie Yates

The Stephenville Fire Department and Erath County EMS took the victims to Texas Health Resources Stephenville.  Despite life-saving efforts, both Barbara Rocha and Alex Aaron Rocha died from their injuries.

Yates was taken into custody after the crash and faces two counts of criminally negligent homicide. Police did not release Yates' age or if she showed any signs of intoxication.

"My mom does not deserve this"

What they're saying:

"I got that call that I never wanted to get in my life. Never expected to get."

Raul Rocha was at his home in Bonham Sunday morning when his father called to tell him his mother and brother had passed away.

"I never imagined this to happen to me. I never imagined losing my mom. My mom does not deserve this," Rocha tells FOX 4's Dionne Anglin. "She was so sweet. She always cared about us. She cared about anybody around her."

Raul Rocha, victim's son and brother

"And then, my brother… I won’t be able to see him grow up," Rocha continued. "The thing I’m going to miss, whenever I go visit, he comes up and hugs me and says, "I missed you." I’m never going to get that again."

Rocha says another brother was in the house when Yates' car crashed into it. That brother, who was uninjured, provided details of the accident.

"He said: "All I remember is I heard a crash. I went in the room and all you could hear was my little brother screaming and my mom praying," Rocha said. "And that’s what I have stuck in the back of my head right now my little brother screaming, and my mom praying."

What you can do:

A GoFundMe has been set up to cover the funeral costs for Alex and Barbara Rocha.

The Source: Information in this story came from the Stephenville Police Department and FOX 4 reporting.

Crime and Public SafetyTexas