A Texas woman was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver as she changed her tire by the roadside.
Aminah Gardner, 57, had been changing her tire on the Katy Freeway in Houston when she was struck by a driver at about 2:35 a.m. CT on Sunday.
Gardner, who was a rideshare driver for Uber and Lyft, had just dropped off a passenger before her tire deflated, the victim's family told Houston news station ABC13. Her husband said that he was on FaceTime with her when her screen suddenly went black.
Houston Police officers told the network that the driver who hit Gardner did not stop after striking her. Investigators believe the vehicle was white due to one of its side mirrors being left behind following the crash.
Newsweek reached out to the Houston Police Department via email for comment.
A GoFundMe page was posted on Sunday by Britney Gardner, who said she was Aminah's daughter, following the rideshare driver's death.
I am the daughter of an amazing angel, Aminah Gardner, who was recently taking from my family and I, she was struck by a car on I10, while changing her tire, the driver just drove off and left my family and I devastated," [sic] she wrote on GoFundMe.
As of Monday morning, the GoFundMe campaign has raised $905 of its $10,000 goal. Gardner did not comment on what specifically the money would be spent on or to what family members it would go.
According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TDT), there were 4,481 motor vehicle traffic fatalities in the state last year. The TDT said this represented a decrease of 0.36 percent from the 4,497 deaths that were recorded in 2021.
Gardner's husband, Jeffree, shared a message for the person who fatally struck his wife with ABC13:
"All I know is that somebody came through, hit my wife, and killed her," he said. "You continue to go, not realizing that you would do better by just turning yourself in because you've left the scene of the crime, you've already committed a fatality, and you've taken a life that belonged to somebody else.
"So, it's up to you whether or not you decide to turn yourself in or not. Because in the end, you will stand in judgment for it. You took the life of someone who was extremely special. Not just because she's my wife and my other half that God blessed and gave to me. But because you knowingly committed a crime, and then you fled the scene. It makes no sense."
