SAN ANTONIO – A grandmother said she's devastated after two of her grandchildren were killed in a wreck Sunday afternoon.
"It's very hard, very hard," said Lydia Ruiz. "I've been trying to be strong, but you don't know how hard it is, it's really hard. It hurts."
Ruiz said she was working when heard that her grandson, Jessie, 4, had been killed in an accident and when she rushed to the hospital she found her granddaughter, Keylin, 6, was also killed.
"They told me my granddaughter didn't make it," said Ruiz. "That she had stopped breathing."
The accident happened around 1:30 p.m. Sunday on Interstate 35 near Loop 410 on the South Side.
Jessie and Keylin were with their mother, their mother's boyfriend and their 14-year-old brother when police said a tire on the Ford Expedition they were in blew out. The SUV spun out of control, hit a guardrail and flipped onto the median.
Jessie was thrown out onto the southbound lane of the interstate and an 18-wheeler ran over him. Keylin was airlifted to University Hospital, but she also died.
The children's mother was also transported to the hospital with minor injuries and the 14-year-old boy suffered head injuries and a broken arm. As of Sunday night, he was still in surgery.
Police said the driver of the Ford Expedition fled on foot and he will more than likely face charges of failing to stop and render aid.
Ruiz said she cannot believe that her daughter's boyfriend didn't try to help.
She said he was from Honduras and that he didn't have any papers, but he could have helped her grandchildren.
"We're trying to figure out why, why he just couldn't get help?" she said. "This is an accident, you know, I don't know why he ran. Why he left them there?"
Lydia said her daughter, Jennifer Ruiz, is still in the hospital and that she's in shock.
She said she is also hoping someone can help their grieving family.
"I'm just hoping that somebody out there, anybody hearing this, can help us out because they had no kind of insurance or anything."
Police said Sunday afternoon that the driver of the 18-wheeler who ran over the boy stopped to help and will not face any charges.