HOUSTON – A family is fighting for answers after a 35-year-old father was killed in a hit-and-run in the Galleria area.
It happened around 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning off near Fountain View and Inwood Drive.
Eric Rye, 35, was his mother’s only child. His mother, Lisa Rye says he was funny, loving, and had the whole world ahead of him.
“Every single day, I wake up and the nightmare starts all over again when I realize my son is not here in this world, and it’s so hard to believe. It’s truly something I cannot accept, and I never will accept it,” said Rye.
On Sunday morning, his life was cut short.
Investigators said a driver hit Rye while he was in the street near the intersection.
“He managed to get himself to someone’s door along that street to ask for help, but they heard a loud noise to the sound of him collapsing on the ground,” his mother said. “And they opened the door and saw him there and called 911.”
His girlfriend, Ruth Ayhuasi, said he was delivering for Door Dash that night.
“I called him just to know where he was, and he didn’t answer my phone. And then I opened the location because he shared his location with me, and I opened it, and I couldn’t see,” said Ayhuasi.
She finally got an answer, but it was not Rye. It was the police.
“They answered his phone because they told me that moment, he didn’t have identification, so they didn’t know who he was,” said Ayhuasai.
Rye died at the hospital.
At this time, the driver is nowhere to be found and there is no description of the vehicle or driver involved.
Rye’s mother said the clothes he was wearing could help police.
“We have given his clothing to the police for evidence so they should be able to determine something [like] the model and the make of the car,” said Lisa Rye.
Rye’s mother and girlfriend welcome any shred of evidence that could help the police.
“We will do everything for Eric, and we will find you, and we will find justice,” said Ayhuasi.
“Whoever did this, please come forward and turn yourselves in because we will not stop looking,” said his mother.
Rye leaves behind a 12-year-old son. Those with any information about the deadly hit and run are urged to contact HPD’s Hit and Run Unit at (713) 247-4072 or speak anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.