It’s been six days since former Raiders cornerback D.J. Hayden was tragically killed in a Houston-area car accident, and a lot of the details around the accident have emerged in the days since.
But first, the information on Hayden’s arrangements that will be taking place this weekend…
A “celebration of life” service will be held on Saturday at the Fountain of Praise Church in the 13900 block of Hillcroft Avenue. His viewing will begin at 9 AM, and the service at 10 AM.
Prior to his death, Hayden had been out of the NFL since 2021 and was coaching the defensive backs at Second Baptist School in Houston.
“He liked to talk about things that no one really wanted to talk about,” one of his players said in an interview after his death. “Like your mental health and how you were doing. He cared.”
As for the details of the accident, we know that the driver of Hayden’s vehicle was not at fault.
“The eastbound vehicle on Pierce had the right of way, had a stale green light, and the other vehicle ran a red light, appears to be going very fast, high velocity,” Houton Police Department Assistant Chief Howard said in the hours after the crash.
The initial police report indicated that the collision caused people in both vehicles to be ejected.
“Literally it sounded like two trains crashing together,” a witness told ABC 13 Eyewitness News the next day. “I can still hear the sound in my ears. It’s nerve-wracking.”
Based on the images released after the crash, the initial impact of the crash was on the driver’s side of Hayden’s vehicle and caused his vehicle to roll over at least once before it came to rest on its roof.
In total, there were six people killed in the crash, including the driver of the Chrysler 300 that hit Hayden’s vehicle and a homeless person that was apparently nearby.
We don’t know if alcohol was involved, but a post on X from someone that claimed to know several of the victims said that it was a “drunk driver” that killed her friends.
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