Police have identified a suspect in the head-on crash that killed Aurora Canales, the mother of eight children, in October.
Following the crash, the driver of the red Chevrolet Camaro fled the scene on foot. Authorities identified a suspect in the hit-and-run on Thursday as 19-year-old Brayan de la Rosa.
On October 24, Aurora Canales and five of her children were returning from the grocery store when De la Rosa allegedly bumped the curb, lost control of the vehicle, and veered into oncoming traffic, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) arrived and pronounced Canales dead at the scene. The DPS confirmed that Canales died on impact.
Andrea Castillo described her aunt Canales as a “loving mother” on their GoFundMe page. The family has yet to make funeral arrangements for Canales.
“I’m very angry for him [the suspect] to walk away. There are eight kids without a mother — eight,” emphasized Evelyn Blair, a witness at the scene. She said it is “a financial burden they can’t uphold right now.”
The five children in the van were injured. Three were escorted to the hospital to recover.
After the incident, Blair rushed to help the family and pulled one of the girls from the crumpled Sequoia.
“It was horrible. I stood in front of [one of the girls], pulled her hair back, and wiped away her tears,” Blair recounted.
The woman said she stood in front of Canales and urged Canales’ daughters not to look.
“If a person dies in an accident, and the culprit leaves, it can be a third-degree felony,” said Haim Vasquez, a criminal attorney. Vasquez stated that De la Rosa could face up to 10 years in jail or five in prison if convicted.
“He needs to own up to what he did,” said Jesus Perez-Canales, 22, the eldest of Aurora Lizeth Canales’ eight children. Perez-Canales must now take care of his seven younger siblings while grieving the death of his mother.
De la Rosa has yet to be located. Anyone with information about him or his location may call the police at 972-466-9133.