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Tragedy on SH 349: How a U-Turn Turned Deadly for a Lamesa Family One Wrong Turn, Two Lives Lost, and a Community in Mourning The Texas Department of Public Safety will tell you it happened fast—too fast. At 5:22 PM on February 20, 2026, on State Highway 349 just north of Lamesa, a simple U-turn became a fatal mistake. What should have been a routine drive home turned into a nightmare that claimed two lives and left a family shattered. Mariano Molinar, 23, was driving north on SH 349 in the inside lane. Carlos Tijerina, 50, of Lamesa, was driving south in the outside lane. When Molinar made his U-turn, he collided with Tijerina’s car. The impact was catastrophic. Molinar was pronounced dead at the scene. So was a 7-year-old boy who was a passenger in Tijerina’s car. Two other passengers—children, we can assume—were rushed to Midland Memorial Hospital with injuries described as both minor and serious. DPS says Molinar wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. This wasn’t just an accident. It was a preventable tragedy. And for the families left behind, the questions are as painful as they are urgent: Why did this happen? Who is responsible? And how do we…