Driver says he didn't see mom and 2 daughters crossing Westheimer prior to striking, killing her
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The man who allegedly ran a red light and hit a mother of four as she crossed Westheimer last Monday night is now speaking out about what happened.
ABC13 found Tai Lam, the driver, at his southwest Houston home Thursday morning and asked him about what happened.
"Just normal, driving, yea, I just went through the light," said Lam, who readily admits he ran the red light as he went eastbound on Westheimer.
We asked if he saw Rosaura Martinez and her two daughters cross at the crosswalk.
"No I didn't," Lam answered.
Martinez was holding hands with two of her daughters as they crossed Westheimer on the way to a grocery store. Lam allegedly hit Martinez, drove about half a block down and then turned around. He is cooperating with police.
RELATED: Houston mom killed while crossing Westheimer with her two daughters
On Wednesday, Leticia Martinez recalled how the crash occurred.
"My sister went first, me, and my mom last, and three of the holding hands, he honked and it went too fast. He took her away from me," she said through her tears. "I went on top of her, and she was dead, she wasn't breathing, her eyes were wide."
Lam has not been charged with any crime. He may never get anything beyond a traffic citation.
"Running red lights, by itself, without combining it with excessive rate of speed or fleeing from the scene or something, it's typically not going to rise to the level of criminal negligence," explained Stephen Aslett, a former prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney's Office
WATCH: Heartbroken daughter describes what happened on Westheimer
Aslett says all fatal crashes are investigated by police, then sent to a Fatality Review Committee within the District Attorney's Office. That committee looks over the cases, and makes a recommendation on whether criminal charges will be filed. Each case will eventually be presented to a grand jury.
"If we charged every single person who accidentally killed somebody with a crime, we would have a lot of people charged," said Aslett. "Maybe that is something we would eventually want but it is not the way the law is currently set up. It has to be a little bit more than doing one traffic offense."
When we asked Lam if he felt like he did anything wrong, he said, "I don't know. I just wait, wait for an investigation."
If no criminal charges are filed, the only recourse for the Martinez family would be to file a civil lawsuit. The family says it is already speaking to an attorney.
