Cheryl Narvaez still remembers the last thing her son Josh Villa did before he walked out the door on Oct. 30, 2023 — he left after an argument with her, wanting space to cool off. He never came home. Hours later, he was found dead on the eastbound Highway 90 access road near Acme Road in San Antonio, killed by a driver who has never been identified.
A Walk That Never Ended
Villa left home sometime between 8 and 8:30 p.m. that night and didn't return, nor did he show up at KIPP Somos Collegiate the next morning, according to KENS 5. He didn't have his cellphone with him, so Narvaez searched for him herself and called relatives, unsure where he had gone. She told the station she wondered whether he had been headed toward their old neighborhood near Five Palms Drive, though she never knew for sure.
Villa was found dead between 10 and 10:30 p.m. that same night, according to his mother. She said he suffered severe injuries to his skull and ribs, and that the impact of the crash threw him through the air. The spot where he was found was about 15 minutes from the family's home. Narvaez also said that in an early news report, Josh's body was mistakenly described as that of a 21-year-old.
No Leads, Three Years Later
Three years on, Narvaez says she still has no leads in her son's death. She believes someone out there witnessed the collision or holds information that could explain what happened that night, and she has a direct message for the driver: come forward, she says, so she can have some type of peace as a mother. She told the outlet she hopes for some form of justice, even now.
Narvaez believes the vehicle that struck her son was traveling at high speed, based on her own account of the crash, though no specific speed has been independently established for the case. Anyone with information is asked to call the San Antonio Police Department's non-emergency line at 210-207-7273. Tips can also be submitted anonymously online or by texting the keyword SATIP with a message to 847411 through Tip411, per the City of San Antonio.
Remembered as the Family's Protector
Josh had talked about joining the Army, his mother said, and she remembers him as a loving son and brother who looked after his family and a jokester who found humor in almost every situation. Narvaez said his death has deeply affected his siblings. She has another child who is now 15 — the same age Josh was when he died — and she's said that child reminds her of him every day.
A Citywide Pattern on High-Speed Roads
Villa's case fits into a broader and troubling trend on San Antonio streets. The city logged 917 crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists in 2024, the highest total in three years, with 66 fatalities, according to San Antonio Report. By the end of June 2025, the city had already recorded 29 pedestrian and bicyclist deaths — matching the same midyear toll from 2023, even though there were 22 fewer crashes overall, the outlet reported.
City transportation officials told the publication that roughly 60% of pedestrian crashes happen outside San Antonio's own jurisdiction, on roadways controlled by the Texas Department of Transportation — like Highway 90, where Villa was killed. Police reports reviewed by the site pointed to a recurring set of conditions behind many of these crashes: high-speed roads, limited lighting, and little to no pedestrian infrastructure.
Separate data from KSAT shows vehicle-pedestrian accidents in San Antonio climbed from 781 in 2022 to 841 in 2023, with December 2023 logging the year's highest monthly total at 85 crashes. Villa was found dead on Oct. 30, 2023. Nationally, the vast majority of fatal pedestrian crashes with known lighting conditions occur after dark, according to a Governors Highway Safety Association report that also found San Antonio's pedestrian fatality counts trending upward for two consecutive years through 2022.
For Narvaez, the statistics are secondary to the one fact that hasn't changed in three years: the person behind the wheel that night has never been found. She continues to wait for the call that could finally bring her answers.
