SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police and Crime Stoppers need help finding a motorcyclist who left a dying woman and her injured children in his wake on the city’s Northwest Side last week.
Tanya Nicole Hernandez, 37, was driving east on Interstate 10 a little after 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, when police say a motorcyclist driving at high speeds cut in front Hernandez’s Chevrolet Tahoe.
In her attempt to avoid hitting the bike, Hernandez lost control of her SUV. The vehicle bounced off the left guardrail and careened off the right side of the highway, slamming into a highway support pillar.
Hernandez died at the scene, and her three children, ages 9 to 15, were rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
Two of Hernandez’s sisters, Margie Ballew and Angie Gamez, say the children are recovering -- at least physically.
“It’s going to be hard to live without her,” Gamez told KSAT on Monday, fighting back tears. “And that we’re all going to get together and take care of our kids, even though this person took her away from us.”
Police are still searching for the motorcyclist who caused the crash. He was described as a male in a white shirt, riding a black “crotch rocket”-style motorcycle.
Once the rider is found, police have said said the rider will be charged with multiple felonies: one count of failure to stop and render aid in a crash resulting in death, and three counts of failure to stop and render aid in a crash resulting in serious bodily injury.
Hernandez’s sisters hope the rider, or someone who knows something, will come forward.
“We have three kids right now that lost their mom, and they need closure,” Ballew said. “And it’s only the right thing to do.”
Ballew and Gamez say their sister was a compassionate woman, who loved her job as a certified medical assistant because it “gave her a sense of joy and happiness to be helping other people.”
Gamez says the crash was another example of their sister’s heart.
“You know, she tried to avoid hitting him, and he was the one who was in the wrong,” she said.
CRIME STOPPERS
Anyone with any knowledge of the incident is urged to call Crime Stoppers at (210) 224-STOP.
Tips can also be texted to CRIMES (274637) or by visiting the Crime Stoppers website.
Crime Stoppers may pay up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest.