High School Senior Dies in Texting-Related Crash

Police say North Texas teen had been texting at time of accident

A 17-year-old North Texas high school senior was killed Thursday when she crashed her car while texting, police said.

The accident happened at about 3 p.m. on West Exchange Parkway near Trinidad Lane in Allen.

Emily Stambaugh died when her car veered off the road, hit the curb and then struck a rock wall, Sgt. Jon Felty said. No other cars were involved in the crash.

"I just want everyone to know what a great person she was," said Stambaugh's boyfriend Brandon Moring. "She was an outgoing, bubbly person. She always knew how to make you laugh, smile, just everything."

Felty said the early results of the investigation show she was distracted by using her cellphone.

"It certainly appears she was texting with (her) boyfriend and sister at the time the accident occured," he said.

The lesson is simple, Felty said.

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"Don't text and drive," he said.

Moring said he preferred to talk about her and not the circumstances of the crash.

The accident couldn't have come at a worse time for the Stambaugh family.

Stambaugh recently tweeted that her father was in the hospital awaiting a heart transplant.

Allen High School's football team played Plano High School on Friday night, and friends wore white to honor her.

"I think the biggest lesson all teenagers can take from this is to show us how fragile life really is," said Allen senior Tracey Brannon, 17. "It was one of my friends who died, so it's really hard right now."

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