A mother of eight was killed Monday evening in a deadly hit-and-run in Carrollton.
The Carrollton police identified a suspect and issued a warrant for his arrest on Tuesday, October 25. However, the alleged driver has yet to be apprehended.
“He needs to own up to what he did,” said Jesus Perez-Canales, 22, the eldest of Aurora Lizeth Canales’ eight children.
Canales’ children, ages four to 22, described how she taught them the importance of laughter and how to love one another.
“She was a very loving person. It’s hard to talk about her,” said Diana Perez, 21, the second eldest.
Diana and four of her younger siblings were with their mother coming home from the grocery store at the time of the crash.
The head-on collision occurred at the Marsh Lane and Dove Creek intersection when a driver in a red Camaro lost control. Following the initial crash, a third vehicle hit both of the vehicles.
“I saw him lose control, pop that curb, smash into it,” witness Richard Blair told CBS.
Perez briefly lost consciousness and woke up to hear her sister screaming from the backseat. The driver’s side of the vehicle had taken the brunt of the damage, and Canales, 43, was not responding.
“I didn’t want to believe that this was real life. I wanted to believe that this was just a bad dream. And I just wanted to wake up from it,” said Perez, “but it’s not.”
The mother in the van died at the scene, while three of her children were taken to a local hospital with severe injuries. As of Wednesday, Nicole, 8, remained in the hospital recovering from her injuries.
Perez and her older brother, Perez-Canales, are now responsible for their six younger siblings. The eldest of the eight explained, “I wasn’t ready for this kind of responsibility, but I’m going to do everything I can to take care of them like how my mom would.”
“I’m very angry for him to walk away,” said witness Evellyn Blair. “There are eight kids without a mother — eight.” Moreover, she said, they have “a financial burden they can’t uphold right now.”
The Peres-Canales family has set up a gofundme account to collect donations that can help cover funeral expenses. As of October 27, they had exceeded their $20,000 goal by almost $4,000.