\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.wfaa.com\/assets\/shared-images\/icons\/arrow-circle-down.svg\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\nZachary and Katherine Barton, both 39, were killed Saturday night after a multi-vehicle crash. Friends say the couple leaves behind two young children.<\/p>\n
ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 A community is mourning the loss of an Arlington husband and wife who were killed in a five-vehicle crash north of Hillsboro over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Zachary Barton, 39, and Katherine \u201cKatie\u201d Barton, 39, were traveling through the area Saturday night when they became involved in a chain-reaction crash on State Highway 171 near County Road 4223, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n This story continues below.
<\/p>\n
DPS said troopers responded to the crash around 8:30 p.m. Sept. 5.<\/p>\n
Investigators said a Ford Fiesta traveling north passed a pickup truck before returning to the right lane, where it struck equipment being towed by a farm tractor. The equipment detached and ended up in the roadway.<\/p>\n
A southbound Chevrolet Traverse and Ford F-150 then collided with objects in the roadway, according to DPS.<\/p>\n
The driver and passenger of the F-150, along with a 12-year-old passenger from the Traverse, got out of their vehicles and were standing in the roadway when another vehicle struck them.<\/p>\n
Katherine Barton was pronounced dead at the scene. Zachary Barton was taken to a hospital, where he later died.<\/p>\n
The 12-year-old and the driver of the Ford Fiesta were both critically injured. DPS said the 12-year-old remained in critical condition.<\/p>\n
For friends and colleagues, the Bartons’ deaths are being felt far beyond Arlington.<\/p>\n
The couple was deeply connected to the bowling community, where friends say they met and fell in love at the International Bowling Campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cZach always had a smile and Zach wanted to help,\u201d said Jason Overstreet, a longtime coworker and friend of the couple.<\/p>\n
Overstreet said he was in his car when a colleague texted him with the news.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just really difficult to process that they\u2019re gone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Friends describe Katie as equally beloved, remembering both her and Zach as people who made lasting connections within the bowling community.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeavy hearts and heartache, disbelief. It\u2019s just such a horrible tragedy,\u201d Overstreet said.<\/p>\n
Friends say the Bartons leave behind two children, both under the age of 6.<\/p>\n
As family and friends grieve, members of the bowling community are now looking for ways to support the children and the Barton family in the aftermath of the tragedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is right now all so shocking and difficult to process and everyone is grieving, but I know the bowling community will in time find a way to come together and support the family,\u201d Overstreet said.<\/p>\n
A fundraiser for the Barton family is currently being organized, according to those close to the family. Details are expected to be shared once arrangements are finalized.<\/p>\n
DPS said investigators suspect alcohol may have contributed to the crash. The investigation remains active.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zachary and Katherine Barton, both 39, were killed Saturday night after a multi-vehicle crash. Friends say the couple…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151],"class_list":["post-431763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}