Child fighting for his life following hit-and-run accident

HARRIS COUNTY (KTRK) -- A 12-year-old boy is fighting to survive after he was hit by a car in northeast Harris County. The accident happened near Seven Mile Lane and Sunny Drive Sunday evening.

Jason Palma's uncle, Alex Garnica, says the family still doesn't have a whole lot of details about what happened.

His injuries were serious with swelling on the brain and several broken bones.

"It's touch and go, but they're hoping for the best," Garnica said.

Perhaps worse than the accident itself is that the driver kept going.

"If it happened to Jason, it can happen to another child," Garnica added. "The person who did this had no heart."

"He's a really good boy and whoever did this they need to come forward because his family doesn't deserve this and he doesn't deserve for this to happen to him," Jason's neighbor Mary Beltran added.

We're told Jason was walking with a friend when he was hit. That friend ran for help. Neighbors are shaken up by the scene of the sixth grader being left for dead. But they say the way people drive through the neighborhood, they're not surprised someone was hurt.

"They just zoom past year and nobody stops at the stop sign," Mary Beltran explained.

"I wish they would put speed bumps or something to slow them down, something so this won't happen again," Susan Beltran added.

We took those concerns to Harris County Precinct Two Commissioner Jack Morman's office Monday. They're working with the state of Texas to find out if a speed hump pilot program would be possible in the neighborhood.

They've already asked the Harris County Sheriff's Office and East Aldine Management District to step up patrols in the neighborhood and all other areas known for speeding and cut-through traffic.

The rep from Precinct Two who we spoke with says they're also going to come out to see what additional signage is needed to get drivers attention.