A woman believed to be in her mid-20s was struck and killed Monday night, September 14, on Little York Road in northwest Houston, and the driver who hit her never stopped. Houston police investigated the crash. The woman was later pronounced dead at an area hospital.
According to police, a preliminary investigation suggests the woman may have been sitting or walking in the roadway when a gray or black car struck her. The driver fled the scene. KPRC Click2Houston also published a report about the case. The crash occurred along Little York Road.
Investigators Comb Little York Road for Clues
The case has been handed to the Houston Police Department's Vehicular Crimes Division. Separately, KHOU 11 reports that this fatal hit-and-run occurred along West Little York Road between Guhn Road and Hollister Road, just before 11 p.m.
If the driver is eventually identified and charged, the legal exposure is severe. Under Texas Transportation Code § 550.021 and Texas Penal Code § 12.33, leaving the scene of a crash that results in a death is a second-degree felony, according to FindLaw, punishable by 2 to 20 years in state prison and an optional fine of up to $10,000.
A Corridor With a Troubling Pattern
This is not the first fatal hit-and-run on this stretch of roadway this year. On March 27, 50-year-old pedestrian Scheaky Washington was struck and killed by a fleeing driver while crossing the 800 block of West Little York Road, according to an official City of Houston news release. Weeks later, on April 16, a 35-year-old woman was struck and killed by a pickup truck while crossing the same block outside of a crosswalk, per the city — a crash Hoodline covered in its report on the pre-dawn Little York tragedy.
Just days after that, on April 25, a pickup truck struck three pedestrians in a retail parking lot along the 5651 block of West Little York Road, killing 73-year-old Patricia Bradley and injuring two others, as Hoodline reported at the time. In July, a cyclist died in a suspected DWI crash on Little York Road, another case Hoodline covered as the late-night Little York tragedy.
Infrastructure Gaps and a Citywide Crisis
Sidewalks along West Little York Road are discontinuous, and pedestrian upgrades have been proposed for the corridor. The corridor has seen repeated fatalities.
The problem extends beyond this crash as well. The crashes described above highlight traffic-safety concerns.
Houston continues to face concerns involving pedestrian deaths and the locations of fatal crashes.
For now, the driver who struck the young woman on Little York Road remains unidentified and at large. The investigation remains ongoing as police search for the fleeing driver.
