SAN ANTONIO – The afternoon before Mother’s Day, 44-year-old Jessica Harper lost her life a mile away from her home in a hit-and-run crash on the West Side.
The crash happened at the Culebra Road and Alamo Downs Parkway intersection on Saturday.
San Antonio police said a witness told them a gray Ford Focus was turning onto Culebra as a black GMC Yukon ran a red light and collided with the Focus.
Harper and her mother were in the Focus. She died at the hospital, and her mother suffered a broken shoulder.
Police said the driver of the Yukon took off on foot. Authorities searched on the ground and by air with their helicopter but have not caught the suspect.
“You took away somebody’s wife, somebody’s mother, somebody’s daughter -- her only daughter,” said Esther Carrasco, a long-time friend of Harper.
Carrasco said Harper was bringing her husband and two young teens food at the time of the crash.
“They went through their first Mother’s Day without her. You know her gifts are still in the back of the car,” Carrasco said. “She’s not going to be here for the sweet 16. She’s not going to be here for graduation.”
The family and Carrasco are hopeful an arrest will come sooner than later. They hope police will be able to track down the driver since the vehicle was left at the crash scene.
KSAT asked police if the car was stolen or if the rightful owner of the Yukon was a suspect, but all they could say is the person they were looking for was still at large.
