North Texas court clerk killed in multi-vehicle crash

MCKINNEY, Texas – Funeral services are set for a beloved wife, mother and clerk inside the Collin County Courthouse this weekend in Denison, announced the family of 45-year-old Katrina Shelby.

Shelby was killed Monday in a multi-vehicle crash along northbound US 75 in Anna near Rosamond Parkway, according to the Anna Police Department. Two other people were injured and were sent for medical treatment to the hospital, while four others refused medical help at the scene.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Shelby's life will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 17, at First Baptist Church of Denison. She left behind a loving husband, two children and an entire court that is now in mourning.

Shelby would have celebrated her eighth year in the Collin County clerk's office next month. Her boss, District Clerk Michael Gould, told WFAA Thursday that the entire office is slowly processing Monday's accident.

She was a key clerk overseeing case files for four district courts and was responsible for the work processes of eight clerks under her leadership.

“She made plans to go take graduation pictures with her daughter and was on her way to do that when it happened,” Gould said. “She was a leader here and that's the tragic part of this whole thing because that's the member of our family that we're missing now.”

Since Shelby's death, a memorial has been erected in the clerk's office, where co-workers and others from the county have left notes and flowers. Her office is empty and the date on her desk calendar is unchanged from Monday when she left for the day.

A reminder of what has been lost, Gould said. He passes by that office several times a day.

“I said good morning to her every day and she was there. She was someone who was here all the time,” Gould said.

Without county clerks, any courthouse would be chaos. They keep the court process going and are rarely noticed by the general public for keeping blood in court. Gould said Shelby is one of the best at her job and a dedicated public servant who will be greatly missed.

“The feeling is that emptiness you feel when someone like him is caught out of the blue,” Gould said. This kind of unexpected happens all too often in life and it hurts the most when we lose someone so dear.

“We've all come to hug our kids a little tighter at night just because this happened,” Gould said. “We know we have to be there for each other because we can't go through it alone.”