Every anniversary, every birthday of their daughters' deaths is a frustrating reminder that the man believed responsible is free, an international fugitive they hope will one day face a jury in Harris County.
With balloons in Avianca Cortez's favorite color pink, family and friends prayed for peace on this difficult day.
"I remember it all the time," Cortez's mother, Katty Alaniz, said.
Three years ago Tuesday, three teens were killed in a crash in northeast Houston when the SUV they were in was struck by a suspected drunk driver. Ajan Timalshina, 25, failed a field sobriety test but wasn't arrested. HPD has said they wanted to wait until toxicology tests were conclusive. But by then, he had fled the country to his native Nepal.
A month later, the sister of one of the victim's committed suicide, and three years later, Timalshina remains free.
"This man killed three people and one killed herself later. That's four young girls that had a life ahead of them. That's not right. His conscience should be eating him up right now," said Stephanie Collins, the mother of one of the victims.
The mothers are frustrated, though Collins has chosen to celebrate her daughter, Rashaunda Raleigh, on Tuesday rather than mourn.
"I've been smiling all day so she's where she's supposed to be at right now," Collins said.
And they will continue to mark anniversaries and birthdays with ceremonial gestures while also praying for justice.
"I'm not giving up," Collins said.
The U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with Nepal so there is no active search for Timalshina to bring him back to Harris County. However, the U.S. Marshals Office says if he starts moving around internationally, other countries are aware there is a warrant out for his arrest.
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