WICHITA FALLS, TX. (THECOUNT) — A father and daughter were struck and killed Wednesday afternoon while riding bicycles on the IH-44 Service Road in Wichita County as a Volvo SUV whose driver failed to control her speed plowed into them from behind. Kevin Reese and his daughter Mckaylee Reese, both of Wichita Falls, were pronounced dead at the scene. Rachel Morgan of Lakeside City has been identified as the driver of the striking vehicle.
Kevin was 45. Mckaylee was 23.
The crash occurred at approximately 4:15 p.m. at a point roughly half a mile north of Bacon Switch Road on the IH-44 Service Road. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Morgan was driving a 2019 Volvo XC40 northbound on the service road when she failed to maintain control of her speed and struck the rear of both bicycles. Kevin Reese was riding in the right lane; Mckaylee Reese was riding on the improved shoulder alongside him. Road conditions were dry at the time of the crash. Morgan, 28, was wearing a seatbelt and sustained no injuries.
[Google Maps — IH-44 Service Road near Bacon Switch Road, Wichita Falls, TX (approximate crash scene) — location is approximate.]
The TxDPS report lists driver inattention and failure to control speed as contributing factors. No arrests have been announced and the investigation remains ongoing. The Texas Department of Public Safety is the lead investigating agency. Anyone with information about the crash is encouraged to contact TxDPS directly.
Kevin and Mckaylee Reese were both residents of Wichita Falls. The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed the two were father and daughter. No additional biographical information has been released by authorities or the family at this time.
Wichita Falls is the county seat of Wichita County in north-central Texas, situated along the Red River approximately 130 miles northwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and roughly 15 miles south of the Oklahoma border. The city is home to approximately 100,000 residents and serves as a regional hub for commerce, healthcare, and military operations, anchored in part by Sheppard Air Force Base on its northern edge. The base is one of the largest military training installations in the United States and a significant economic driver for the region. Lakeside City, where Morgan resides, is a small incorporated community of fewer than 1,000 people in Wichita County situated just east of the Wichita Falls city limits.
The IH-44 Service Road corridor north of Bacon Switch Road carries a mix of local residential and commercial traffic as it runs parallel to the interstate. Texas service roads are unique to the state’s highway system, running alongside major interstates and carrying vehicles at posted speeds that can approach or match those of the main travel lanes. That design, while practical for property access and local circulation, creates conditions where cyclists and pedestrians share the road with fast-moving vehicle traffic, often with limited physical separation between them.
Texas consistently ranks among the most dangerous states in the nation for cyclists. The Texas Department of Transportation recorded more than 70 cyclist fatalities statewide in 2024 alone. The state’s vast rural road network, combined with high posted speed limits and limited dedicated cycling infrastructure outside of major urban centers, contributes to an elevated risk environment for anyone riding a bicycle on Texas roadways — particularly on service roads and farm-to-market routes where shoulders are narrow and sightlines can be long but deceptively fast.
The posted speed limit on the IH-44 Service Road at the point of Wednesday’s crash was 50 miles per hour. At that speed, a driver who is inattentive for even a few seconds covers several hundred feet of roadway without awareness of what lies ahead. The TxDPS report does not indicate whether distracted driving, impairment, or any other secondary factor played a role beyond the listed contributing causes of inattention and failure to control speed.
No funeral arrangements for Kevin or Mckaylee Reese have been publicly announced.
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