BEAUMONT, Texas — The families of two close friends killed in a crash on Interstate 10 say they are devastated and leaning on each other as they grieve.

Alexandria Jones, 33, and Cameron Gerard were on their way back to Beaumont from Houston on Monday when state troopers say Gerard failed to make a lane change near Boyt Road. His vehicle struck a water-filled barrier and then a concrete barrier. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Jones’s mother, Sylvia Brydson, said her daughter and Gerard shared a sibling-like bond.

“They were like brother and sister. She trusted him. She wouldn’t have been with him if she didn’t,” Brydson said. “It’s two important lives lost that are no longer here, and that’s all that matters to us.”

Brydson said Jones had been in Houston networking. The mother

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