HOUSTON — It's been six weeks since a teen was killed by a hit-and-run driver on Highway 290 and a suspect has not been identified.
"I really can't explain it," Melinda Rodriguez said. "It's something that you can't put into words."
The mother of Yeriel Rodriguez said not a minute goes by that she and her husband are not thinking of their son.
"You know, we have other children -- your focus goes to them, you try to make sure to put that face that mom and dad are OK, but not really," Melinda Rodriguez said.
Yeriel Rodriguez, 19, was riding his motorcycle on the night of Aug. 31 with his friends along Highway 290. Police said he was traveling at a high rate of speed and was weaving in and out of traffic. When he neared the Fairbanks exit, police said Yeriel hit a vehicle and flew off his bike.
A short time later, he stood up and that's when police said he was hit by a white Jeep. They said the driver never stopped and Yeriel died at the scene.
"It was so bad that we had to do a closed casket for him," Richard Rodriguez, Yerial's father, said. "Drug him a few hundred yards or something to that effect."
The last six weeks have been the worst month-and-a-half of the Rodriguez family's life.
"Going to work for him isn't an escape," Melinda Rodriguez said. "It is a reminder after every single thing that he does."
Yeriel's father does not stop thinking about his son and it is especially hard when he goes to work. The father and son opened an HVAC company together. Richard's job is a constant reminder that his son is gone.
"It's a dream that's been torn apart and broken right now," Richard Rodriguez said.
Although the parents said their minds are consumed with questions, like "What could they have done differently?" They still don't have any answers. They said they never knew Yeriel had a motorcycle because he kept it at a friend's house. If they had known, Melinda Rodriguez said they would have never allowed it.
"He just thought he was invincible and nothing would ever happen to him," she said.
Now, they want the driver who hit their son to come forward.
"I understand. It could be horrific for a person to go through this, too," Richard Rodriguez said. "But the right thing is the right thing, and I'm just asking for the person to do the right thing. Whoever it was."
Richard Rodriguez said he is contributing an additional $15,000 to Crime Stoppers' existing $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest of the suspect. If you have any information on the crash call the Houston Police Department or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).