1 week Ago
HOUSTON — A day after a toddler was hit and killed by a pickup truck at a crosswalk in southwest Houston, his family and advocacy groups held a rally demanding justice. The deadly crash, which also injured the boy’s grandmother, happened at the intersection of West Fuqua and Bathurst Drive on Thursday morning. On Friday, family members identified the victim as 2-year-old Emmanuel Molina Rangel.
"He always smiled, playful, he was loved,” his uncle said. Jose Molina was at the scene with his family members holding signs asking drivers to slow down and remember a young life taken too soon. "My family is in pain right now.
My sister loved her child. Nothing is going to bring him back. That's why we asked the law for justice,” Molina said.
The boy’s mother also attended the rally but was too distraught to speak. Emmanuel's uncle said the boy's grandmother was pushing him in his stroller on the way to the store to buy items to celebrate his younger brother’s birthday when they were hit by a truck at the crosswalk. "My little nephew turned 1 year old yesterday.
They were going to the store to buy something small so we could all get together to celebrate my baby nephew, but that turned into a tragedy, and today is my oldest nephew’s birthday too now they're going to have to live with that," Molina said. Houston police said Emmanuel was strapped in a stroller at the time of the impact. He later died at the hospital.
His grandmother, family members said, remains hospitalized and is fighting for her life. According to investigators, the driver was making a left turn from a stop sign when he struck them. They said the driver didn’t show signs of impairment.
They said that the driver stayed at the scene, was questioned, and later released. It's something Emmanuel's family and advocates believe should have never happened, considering it was an uncontrolled intersection, meaning it had no lights, and was in a school zone. "The driver in this case should have been arrested on the spot.
There is no reason under the law for why this driver was allowed to go free,” said Gina Torry, with Citizens for Road Safety Texas. The law Torry referenced is the Lisa Torry Smith Act, a Texas crosswalk law that was passed in 2021 and named after her sister who was killed while walking her son to school at a school zone in Fort Bend County. The law requires drivers to stop and yield before entering a crosswalk with a pedestrian, in this case, investigators said preliminary information showed the driver didn't yield.
"Harris County is a warzone for anybody who wants to walk, bike, run and be on the street, and it shouldn't have to be like that, the leaders of Harris County need to do better,” Torry said. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office said they’re waiting for the results of the investigation to determine if the driver involved in this case will face any charges. Emmanuel’s family said with the holidays right around the corner, their grief is even greater and shared this message with drivers.
"Please be more careful, respect the signs,” Molina said. "We don't want anything bad to happen to anyone else.” The family who have not yet started an official GoFundMe page share they have found multiple fake accounts set up under their names and warned people to be careful.
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