IF I WASN'T GOING TO HELL BEFORE, I AM NOW

Miss Deaf Texas struck by train, killed

Tuesday, March 14, 2006; Posted: 9:27 a.m. EST (14:27 GMT)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- The reigning Miss Deaf Texas died after being
struck by a train, officials said.

Tara Rose McAvoy, 18, was walking Monday near railroad tracks when she
was struck by a Union Pacific train, authorities said.

A witness told Austin television station KTBC the train sounded its horn
right up until the accident occurred.

McAvoy, who had been deaf since birth, won the state title in June and
represented the state "with dignity and pride," state pageant director
Laura Loeb-Hill told The Associated Press via e-mail Monday night.

McAvoy was to represent Texas at the Miss Deaf America pageant this
summer, Loeb-Hill said.

McAvoy graduated last year from the Texas School for the Deaf, attended
Austin Community College and then started at Gallaudet University in
Washington, D.C., in January, but had returned to Texas, Loeb-Hill said.