Jenna Betti, 14, a student at Martinez Junior High School, struck and killed by a freight train near Martinez

A 14-year-old girl may have been trying to retrieve her cellphone when she was fatally struck by a freight train traveling through Martinez Sunday evening. Jenna Betti, an 8th grader at nearby Martinez Junior High School, was pronounced deceased near the railroad tracks after emergency crews received a report that a female had been struck by a train near Old Orchard and Howe roads at about 5 p.m., police said. The freight train’s conductor told authorities that two people got off the tracks as the train approached but that for some reason, the girl stepped back on the tracks. Investigators said they believe Betti may have been trying to retrieve a dropped a cell phone. The incident remains under investigation by the freight railroad company, BNSF Railway. The superintendent of the Martinez Unified School District, said that grief counselors will be at the school. “It’s a hard issue to deal with students. We want them to know that it was a tragic accident and that her life will be remembered."