DEER PARK, Texas — People in Deer Park are praying for a student who was hit by a pickup truck Tuesday while walking home from school.
The victim was with her sister when the driver lost control, ran up the sidewalk and pinned the victim against a light pole. It happened around 3:30 p.m. on Georgia Avenue near Wildwood Drive.
The Deer Park ISD student, who is 17 years old, was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital by Life Flight.
She is a 10th grader at Deer Park High School South Campus, DPISD said. The school is less than a mile from where the accident happened.
“I hope she gets through whatever she goes through and gets out fine," Brayden Lawton, a friend told us.
People who know the girl and complete strangers left flowers and other items at the accident scene on Wednesday.
“I’m a school bus driver and it’s, like, breaking all of our hearts, where we work at right now," Elizabeth told us. "Praying for the family."
On Wednesday, Deer Park police said the driver of the truck, Leland Smith, was arrested on intoxication assault charges. They said additional charges were possible.
“It’s tragic from every perspective, right? The victim and the guy that’s involved in the accident," neighbor Mark Elliott said. "Jesus is the great healer. Hopefully, it’s his will that she comes through."
In an email to parents Tuesday night, the South Campus principal initially reported that the girl died at the hospital, citing emergency officials at the scene. They later learned that the information was wrong and sent a second email to parents.
"In sensitive situations like this one, we depend on information from emergency officials. After we received news about the accident, we shared the details that were available at the time," Principal Kirk Taylor said. "Our intent was to offer support to families in the best way possible."
Taylor apologized for the confusion.
Counselors spoke on Wednesday to South Campus students who had classes with the victim, the district said.
Accidents involving pedestrians at five-year high
We dug into the number of wrecks involving vehicles and pedestrians. We found that in 2023, Harris County is at a five-year high for the months January through October.
So far, in 2023, there have been 1,560 wrecks involving vehicles and pedestrians in Harris County, according to TxDOT Crash Records Information System. The next closest in that time over the last five years is last year at 1,536. There were, however, more fatalities last year. In 2022, there were 152 fatalities compared to 2023, when there were 146. The year with the lowest number of wrecks involving vehicles and pedestrians was in 2020 when the pandemic kept people off the roads for a period of time. That year, there were 1,274 wrecks involving pedestrians and 121 fatalities.