The wreck happened at around 2:30pm on Richmond and Briarpark. Houston police say the 70-year-old driver of a silver car who caused the fatal accident had just clipped another vehicle, lost control and crashed into a green vehicle being driven by the victim, who was killed on impact.
The aftermath was quite a spectacle that drew onlookers -- one car wedged up against another. But all Cassandra Pittman could feel was guilt.
"She said, 'Is she OK?' and I said, 'She's OK.' Lord, forgive me for lying to that woman," Pittman told Eyewitness News.
Pittman was one of a handful of passersby who stopped to help. Police originally thought the deceased driver was a woman and possibly the mother of the child, but Friday night they said the victim was actually a man with long hair.
Police said the victim was not related to either the woman or the 5-year-old girl riding inside the vehicle, but could not say whether the woman and girl were related. All three were inside the green car when the silver car hit them. The young child was strapped in a car seat in the back.
"The little baby was in the backseat crying and she was, 'Is my momma OK?'" said eyewitness Kevin Williams.
The man, who was behind the wheel, was fatally injured and the woman in the passenger seat was being comforted by Pittman.
"She said, 'Don't leave me. The guy hit us.' And I said, 'I know, but it's gonna be OK. It's gonna be OK,'" said Pittman. "I said I feel a pulse. I had to lie to her. I had to lie."
It was clearly heartbreaking for Pittman, but she was just doing what any of us would have done in trying to comfort that woman.
According to Houston police, the girl, the woman and the elderly driver of the silver car were transported to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries.
The victim's name has not yet been released.
Police are still investigating whether this accident rises to the level of a crime.
Stay with Eyewitness News and abc13.com for the latest on this story.
