SAN ANTONIO – A mother emotionally torn apart by the sudden death of her 25-year-old daughter said she is hoping police will find the drivers who killed her.
Chanda Spears, 25, was hit by three trucks early Sunday morning on San Pedro Avenue, near Sahara Street on the city’s North Side.
Police said two of those drivers fled the scene.
"The police came around 1:30 to tell me that she had been involved in an accident and that she didn't make it," the victim’s mother said.
Spears’ mother, who asked to not be identified by name, said she was devastated to find out what happened to her daughter and even more upset that the drivers did not stop.
"People were so heartless to keep going," she said. "You know, had that first person stopped, the second two cars might not have hit her. Maybe she could have gotten medical attention sooner."
According to police, moments before the accident, Spears had been walking in the middle of the road.
Witnesses told police that she was acting erratically and that she laid down on the street before she was hit.
Spears’ mother said her daughter struggled with mental illness all her life and sometimes would not take her medication.
She had been living in an apartment close to where the accident happened.
"The mental-illness issue is so hard," she said. It is difficult, she added, "to find appropriate help that actually helps people with mental illness issues."
"She was a daughter, a mother, a sister, a grandbaby and a friend," said Jocelyn Andrews, a family friend. "She had her troubles, but she was loved and cared about. We want people to know about it."
"Even in the worst of everything, she had this big beautiful smile all the time," Chanda's mother said. "Anybody that knows Chanda could tell you that she really was a sweet girl. She has a 1-year-old girl, who is now not going to get to know her mom."
San Antonio police are still working to track down the two drivers who left the scene.
Anyone with information about what happened during the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP.