'He helped everybody': Family remembers father after hit-and-run
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Shaun Copeland was about a half mile from his workplace on Lauder Road Friday evening, but he never made it to his job.
Deputies arrived at his home several hours later to inform his wife that her husband had been killed in a hit-and-run crash.
He had been rear-ended by a grey Chevy SUV, causing his vehicle to spin out of control and overturn.
He was ejected. The driver who struck him never stopped.
Driver left motorist to die after N. Harris Co. crash: Deputies
At the couple's home in Fort Bend County, his widow, Nicole Copeland is filled with grief and questions she desperately wants answered.
"He was the best part of me," she said as she sobbed. "How could anyone do this and not try to help?"
Shaun loved his family more than anything, adored his two sons and his daughter as well as the dogs they rescued after Harvey.
Her 34-year-old husband was a machinist and worked 12 hour days everyday. The only break they had was for the holidays when their family gathered together.
"Shaun would have stopped to help. He helped everybody. If they knew he was such a good person, and such a good father, they would have stopped to help him," she said.
The only clue is a witness who described a grey SUV, and a bumper left behind after the crash. Nicole said deputies told her it belonged to a Chevy.
There is also the uncertainty of life after the breadwinner in the family is gone.
Nicole is a stay-at-home mom, who home-schools her children. Two of their little ones are hearing impaired.
The main thing she wants is for the person who shattered their lives to come forward, or be found.
"We have a right to know. A right to have answers, and I feel like if you do the right thing, God will forgive you," she said.
If you would like to donate to the Copeland family, please visit GoFundMe.com.
Police are looking for the driver of the other vehicle, which is missing its front grill and bumper. The vehicle was last seen heading east on Lauder towards Eastex Freeway.
