BELL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — Romi Bomar, 18, was on her way to Temple nearly 8 months ago when she hydroplaned on a wet road and died in a head-on collision on State Highway 36. Her family and community are still grieving the loss and want the Texas Department of Transportation held accountable.
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Romi was a Temple College student with a dream of becoming a cardiac sonographer and touching the hearts of children in more ways then one.
Her mother, Tawyla Diserens, has kept Romi's room largely untouched.
"Here's her room, the only thing I picked up was some dirty clothes, but I kinda wished I didn't," Tawyla said.
The family established a local scholarship for the drill team Romi was part of and the Romi Faith and Future Foundation to benefit Gatesville children in need — causes Tawyla said Romi would have embraced.
"It would break my already broken heart to see children suffer and so, um, I think God just put it on my heart that. We, we need to do something for the children of our community, you know, um, Romi would like that," Tawyla said.
After receiving messages from neighbors with stories similar to Romi's, Tawyla said she knew something had to change.
"From day one. People were telling us stories about the day of her crash that they almost crashed. I was getting messages from people I didn't know saying I wish it would've been me because just minutes before her crash they had almost crashed," Tawyla said.
The family filed a lawsuit against TxDOT, alleging gross negligence and claiming the agency knew of dangerous wet conditions on that stretch of State Highway 36.
Family attorney Damian Williams said the evidence points to a pattern of awareness and inaction.
"What the information gives us right now is we have the stretch of highway. That when it rains, it's undrivable and I have personally spoken to folks and read things that leads me to believe that TxDOT, the county, Law enforcement, that folks were aware of this issue, and that folks had been speaking out about it, and that other people had already lost their lives in this area," Williams said.
A second family, whose daughter was injured in a crash in the same area, has since joined the lawsuit, according to Williams.
TxDOT said it does not respond to pending litigation.
Romi's father, Gaige Diserens, still travels the road for work that was his daughter's last.
"It puts you in a mindset of remembrance and puts you kind of in her shoes a lot of times going down that path and see the last thing she saw. It's hard, but I do. I have to travel 3 or 4 times a week," Gaige said.
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