SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio family is dealing with double heartbreak: the death of a 12-year-old boy in a crash that may have been caused by another relative.
San Antonio police say it appears a driver in his 20s was involved in street racing when he lost control of his car around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and crashed into another vehicle.
The crash happened on Culebra Road near Elmendorf Road.
Officers at the scene say the man’s 12-year-old nephew was in the car with him at the time. The child died from his injuries.
Police say the man’s car slammed into another car heading in the opposite direction. A 66-year-old woman in that other car was injured and taken to a hospital for treatment.
As of Wednesday afternoon, no names have been released.
“It was very, very heartbreaking,” said one woman who happened to be leaving a business nearby at the time of the crash. “I heard the impact. It was horrible.”
The witness said she was loading items into her own vehicle just a few feet from where the crash scene came to be when she suddenly turned around and saw the driver losing control.
She said immediately afterward, she ran over and tried to help the man and child, who were trapped in the crumpled car.
“But, of course, it was impossible,” she said, adding that the car doors were stuck.
Firefighters had to cut the roof off the vehicle to free the man and boy.
On Wednesday morning, a woman who said she was related to both of them showed up at the scene, closely examining the debris that was left behind from the crash.
She told KSAT 12 News off camera that the boy had just celebrated his 12th birthday a few days ago.
The relative said at the time of the crash, the boy and man were on their way home from a cemetery where another family member had been buried.
The boy’s death is something people in that West Side neighborhood feared might happen. They said street racing in the area has been an ongoing problem.
“I’m just asking the city to do something about it,” said the witness to the crash.
Street racing is outlawed in San Antonio and Texas, and carries penalties that could include hefty fines, a loss of driving privileges and/or the forfeiture of vehicles.
KSAT 12 News sent an email seeking comment about the street racing problem to the office of Councilmember Sukh Kaur, whose district includes that stretch of Culebra Road.
So far, there has been no response.
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