Teen basketball player dies days after dad following Montana crash, Texas family says
A 16-year-old Texas high school basketball player has died days after a car crash left her hospitalized and took the life of her father, her family says and news outlets report.
Kristina Butterfield was visiting family in Montana with her father, David Butterfield, when a Hummer crashed into their car as they passed through an intersection on March 2, the Montana Highway Patrol told the El Paso Times.
David Butterfield died shortly after the collision, but his daughter lived for several days, the outlet reported.
Her family made the decision to take her off of life support on Saturday, March 8, KTSM reported.
“Our dear sweet girl was beyond accomplished and such a tough basketball player,” her mother, Jennifer Lakko Butterfield, told the station.
Kristina Butterfield leaves behind six siblings, of whom she was the second-youngest, the station reported.
She took her studies as seriously as her sport, according to a GoFundMe launched by Hanks High School’s head coach Miguel Padilla. Kristina Butterfield, who was a junior at the El Paso high school, was ranked fourth in her class and played on the Varsity Girls Basketball team, he said.
“Kristina was wise beyond her years,” her sister, Kayla Evans, who lives in Montana, told the El Paso Times. “She always looked at the great qualities in people. She spread love to others, was focused and I never saw her without a smile. She always wanted the best for others. Kristina made others happy and loved her family very much.”
Her father, David Butterfield, was a “respected teacher, and a long-time trainer” at Parkland High School in El Paso, the GoFundMe read.
He was more than a teacher, a coach and mentor, he was a “savior,” former student Alexander Betancourt Jr., told KVIA.
“I immediately dropped my phone” after hearing the news, Betancourt told the station. “I just started bawling my eyes out.”
“I would talk to him about what I was struggling with how I couldn’t, like, recover from what happened,” he said, adding that David Butterfield is the reason he’s now on the path to becoming a teacher. “And he would help me. He would give me guidance, and basically he would just push me to become a better person.”
This story was originally published March 9, 2025 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Teen basketball player dies days after dad following Montana crash, Texas family says."