SAN ANTONIO – Relatives and neighbors of a 15-year-old girl who was hit by a garbage truck at her Northwest Side apartment complex are struggling with the news of her death.
According to a report from San Antonio police, the teen darted out in front of the truck around 5:30 a.m. Monday in the middle of the parking lot at The Camaron Townhomes.
The report says she then ran behind the truck, which was backing up, and it ran over her.
Officers, who received a call about 30 minutes after the crash happened, arrived on scene and found out that she was dead. Initially, they treated the case as a hit-and-run crash.
Later, police said they realized the garbage truck, which had returned to the scene, was the vehicle involved.
The driver of the truck is not facing any charges at this time.
On Monday evening, the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the girl as Ziba Mir Shadad. Her cause and manner of death are still pending.
“Freak accidents like this happen and it’s just crazy,” said Jaclyn Martinez, a neighbor.
Martinez had just returned home from taking her own daughter to school when she realized something was wrong at the complex, located on Danny Kaye Drive not far from Babcock Road.
“I came down this exact alley, and I noticed there was a crime scene off to what was my right at the time,” she said, pointing out the area.
Another neighbor, who requested to remain anonymous, told KSAT 12 News he witnessed the crash firsthand and is still haunted by what he saw.
“(The girl’s body) was dragged across the parking lot,” he said. “It was horrific.”
The unidentified neighbor said he had just seen Shadad Sunday, when she stopped by to pet his dogs.
Adrienne Tyree said she also saw Mir Shadad on numerous occasions, walking around the apartment complex with her family.
“I feel very sad for the family. They’re such a wonderful family,” she said.
Tyree said she had feared something like this might happen. She said it’s not uncommon for people and cars to share the road, often in the dark.
Tyree said she had been petitioning for more lighting near her apartment, and recently a new spotlight was installed.
Still, she said it only helped in that immediate area.
“If you go around the corner this way, it is still very dark,” Tyree said, pointing to the area where the crash happened.
In the hours after the crash, several members of Mir Shadad’s family gathered near the family’s apartment, hugging each other and speaking in hushed tones.
They declined to speak to KSAT 12 News.
At one point, four people who identified themselves as Northside Independent School District employees stopped by and spoke with relatives through a translator.
A spokesman for the school district confirmed Mir Shadad was a 10th-grade student at Marshall High School in NISD.
He said he believes the group of employees who visited her family may have been counselors from the school district.
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