Boy fighting to survive after hit and run accident in NE Harris County

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A young boy is in the hospital after he was hit by a driver while walking home in his east Aldine neighborhood.

Neighbors say Jason Palma was less than half a mile from his house when a car slammed into him. The driver did not stop to help.

"We got there before the cops got there," said Mary Beltran, a neighbor. "I had no clue it was him."

Beltran recalled seeing the boy's body laying still in a ditch, but it wasn't clear he was hurt. Hours later, she says her father told her Palma, who lives next door to her family, was hit.

"He's a really good boy. Jason is always around here helping with everyone, playing with everyone," said Beltran.

Beltran, a sixth grader at Reed Academy, was with a friend. Investigators say that friend was not hit and was the first to call for help. No one got a good look at the car before it left the scene.

"I pray to God they find out who this is and I pray to God he's OK," said Susan Beltran, Mary's mother.

Susan says drivers frequently blow through the intersection of Sunny Drive and Seven Mile Lane. She won't let her grandchildren play outside near the street because of the reckless driving.

"You hear the tires screeching and people, they drive horrible in this neighborhood," Susan Beltran said.

"You can't just let your kid come out here and play because the way they speed up and down these little streets, it's like a race track," said another neighbor.

At this time, the Harris County Sheriff's Office doesn't have any leads as to who the driver is. They could face a felony charge if caught.

At last check, Palma was in critical condition.