Identity released of child killed in hit-and-run-crash in SW Houston, family pleads for help

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The father of an 11-year old girl killed in an accident at Westpark and the Southwest Freeway says he was taking his five children out to eat when a car came out of nowhere and hit them. That car did not stop.

"Tania was an angel," Cayetano Rodriguez said. "For me, my kids are my life. But Tania was very special to me. She was an angel, and she left."

Rodriguez says he was driving on the Southwest Freeway feeder road at Westpark when someone coming down Westpark hit him on the back side of his truck.

"They ran the red light and was speeding," he claimed.

The impact from the crash knocked his pickup into a pillar underneath the freeway. That driver kept going.

RELATED: Child killed in hit-and-run crash

Rodriguez and all of his children were taken to the hospital. Tania Rodriuguez was pronounced dead there. One child remains in Texas Children's with a gash over the eye.

"Someone watching this and was around the area, please help us in finding the culprit," pleaded Tania's mother Gladys Martinez.

She says whoever caused the accident that killed her little girl knows exactly what they did.

"You took away my daughter. I hope you're not a dad or a mom. You don't know the pain you left this family. I asked God to forgive you."

We spoke with investigators late Sunday evening. They say they don't have any leads on that car that left the scene. All they know is that it's a red Chevy Cobalt or Cavalier, and that it likely has damage to the left front panel and bumper area.

The family has started a GoFundMe to help cover medical and burial expenses: CLICK HERE.