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Young mom, daughter ejected, killed in ‘violent’ East Harris County crash

“The loss of life is sad under any occasion, but especially on weekends like this, such an important day.”

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A young mother and her 5-year-old daughter are dead after being thrown from their car during a violent crash in East Harris County on Easter Sunday.

Tiffany Rodriguez, 25, was driving her family on US 90 near Uvalde Road. When she exited the highway, witnesses say the Toyota Prius was going at least 80 miles an hour. The car flipped several times. Rodriguez and her 5-year-old daughter Ariella were both ejected from the car and killed.

Her husband, 26, and two younger children were hurt and in critical condition. They’re expected to survive.

The car landing in a grassy median after flipping.

“One witness stated that they estimated they were possibly going around 80-85 mph as they were exiting the freeway,” said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. “At some point, maybe, as they began losing control of the vehicle, perhaps they overcorrected causing them to leave the roadway, leaving a long trail into the grassy area.”

Sheriff Gonzalez said neither parent was wearing a seatbelt, but all of the children were in the back seat and buckled in.

According to preliminary information from investigators, it appears the family may have been going to celebrate Easter.

“It appears that there was some new clothes that they were perhaps going to be wearing today at some point and even some eggs that they were going to be enjoying the day,” the sheriff said.

This was the latest accident in what turned out to be a violent and deadly weekend across Harris County.

“It’s really tragic when we think of what a deadly weekend it’s been around our county, and not only in terms of murders, but also roadway deaths as well,” Sheriff Gonzalez said. “It’s very tragic, especially on such a special day. It breaks my heart coming to some of these scenes and and seeing the small shoes of a toddler especially being a parent. that always hits home.”

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez providing an update on a fatal rollover crash that left a mother and six-year-old girl dead on East Sunday in East Harris County. (Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston - All rights reserved.)

This crash marks the 45th fatal accident on unincorporated Harris County roads, according to Sheriff Gonzalez.

“I want to be very clear that these crashes are all preventable. They really are,” Sheriff Gonzalez said. “We’re talking about speed. At times, we talk about impairment. We’ve got to be paying closer attention to what we’re doing because if not we’re going to continue to see more carnage on our roadways.”


About the Authors

Christian Terry covered digital news in Tyler and Wichita Falls before returning to the Houston area where he grew up. He is passionate about weather and the outdoors and often spends his days off on the water fishing.

Gage Goulding headshot

Gage Goulding is an award-winning TV news reporter and anchor. A native of Pittsburgh, PA, he comes to Texas from Fort Myers, FL, where he covered some of the areas most important stories, including Hurricane Ian.

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