HOUSTON – Family members have released the identity of a good Samaritan who was killed while trying to help a driver change a tire on a vehicle Monday.
Javier Leyva, 44, was fatally struck after pulling over to assist the driver of a silver Hyundai Santa Fe on the North Loop East near Wallisville Road.
Leyva’s daughter, Jessica Leyva, said her mom and aunt told her of her dad’s death when they came to her apartment early Tuesday.
“They were just crying hysterically,” Jessica recalls. “I asked them what was going on and they told me that my dad passed. I was like, ‘You’re lying. I just saw his location. Like he was on 610, what are you talking about? We just spoke with him.’”
The father of three is described as kind and selfless.
Jessica said she would regularly be with her dad when he would stop to help others.
“If he could, he would,” she said. “That’s something he always did. You know, even if I was in the truck or something, he’d be like, ‘Oh look, I’m going to help them out.’”
According to Houston police, Leyva, who was driving a white Dodge Ram pickup truck, stopped in front of the disabled Hyundai and got out to offer assistance. That is when an unknown vehicle, which was traveling westbound on the main lanes of the North Loop, struck a Toyota Corolla from behind, pushing the Toyota onto the shoulder.
The Toyota then struck the Hyundai, Leyva, and the pickup truck. The driver of the unknown vehicle fled the scene, investigators said.
Leyva’s brother, Oscar, said the 44-year-old was returning home from visiting his mom.
“He was off that day. He was just driving. He came to see my mom. He went back,” Oscar explained. “On his way home, he noticed someone was stranded. He knows a little bit about cars, I’m a mechanic myself. He figured you know, ‘I could change a tire real quick.’ He pulled over and did what he had to do and that was the end of it. It’s really sad and heartbroken that you’re trying to do a good cause and this is what happens.”
Sgt. David Rose with HPD’s Vehicular Crimes division stresses the importance of safety on freeways.
“It’s very dangerous to stop on the freeway at all,” Sgt. Rose said. “That’s why we tell people if they get into a fender bender and no one is injured, to get off the freeway.”
“We need to get drivers like that out of the freeway, out of the street, we don’t need that type of driver,” Oscar said. “It’s causing a lot of pain to honest working families. We really don’t need that. Houston doesn’t need that.”
The victim’s daughter has a message for the suspected driver.
“To the person who did this,” Jessica said. “If it happened to your family, you’d be just as destroyed. You’d want someone to come forward and the same thing to anybody who saw anything, come forward and let us know. We all want justice.”
Anyone with information on the identity of the wanted driver is urged to contact the HPD Hit-and-Run Unit at (713) 247-4072 or speak anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.
The family has since set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses.
STALLED VEHICLE RESOURCES:
Transtar’s Motorist Assistance Program (MAP) is a free program designed to help stranded drivers on all Harris County area freeways. It’s available all day and night, Monday through Friday.
Dial 713-CALL-MAP (713-225-5627) for assistance.
MAP officers are fully equipped to assist with the following:
- Changing a flat tire.
- Supply fuel, water and/or air.
- Jump-start vehicles.
- Assist with minor engine repair.
- Remove stranded vehicles from the roadway.
- Provide courtesy transport of stranded motorists to a safe location.
The Harris County Toll Road Authority’s Incident Management Program offers roadside assistance daily between 5 a.m. and midnight. call (281) 584-7500 for more information.
“The Incident Management Program oversees the Incident Response Team. The primary role of the Incident Response Team is to help clear incidents on HCTRA roads as safely and quickly as possible, preventing other incidents from occurring,” the program details.
The Gulf Coast Regional Tow and Go is available 24/7 including holidays, just call (713) 881-3333.
