Woman charged in hit-and-run crash that killed 8-year-old in Fort Bend County
FOR BEND COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A woman accused in a hit-and-run crash that killed an 8-year-old girl in Fort Bend County will face upgraded charges, according to authorities.
Angela Smith, 39, was detained Friday morning. She was charged and taken to jail around 7 p.m. Friday.
She did not answer questions as deputies walked her to a patrol car. Sheriff Troy Nehls said during her interview that Smith had little emotion.
RELATED: 8-year-old hit by car in Fort Bend County dies, sheriff says
"She has not asked about the status of the person she struck. Very little sympathy and quite honestly, very little remorse," Nehls said in a Friday afternoon news conference.
The hit-and-run happened at Bissonnet and Hodges Bend. As first responders were tending to the little girl Thursday evening, captured in a heart-wrenching photo that showed a man praying, investigators say Smith was already onto her next crash.
Twelve minutes later, she rear-ended another vehicle. Its driver took a picture that helped deputies identify Smith. They say her family led them to her and her car at Edgewood Park in southeast Houston.
ABC13 was there when they took her in. Nehls said she eventually told them why she left.
"The reason she left the scene, she didn't stop is because she was scared," Nehls said. "She had a suspended driver's license, but she knew she hit somebody."
Her car's driver's side windshield was shattered. The car's hood was dented. Investigators say the child flew 20 feet on impact.
The victim was crossing Bissonnet at the crosswalk with her brother and sister. Deputies say Smith ran the stop sign and hit the girl.
"All of a sudden I heard my neighbor saying, 'Oh my God! Oh my God!'" Bolanle Awoniyi said.
Awoniyi called 911. She says the little girl had a faint pulse when paramedics arrived.
The child was pronounced dead Saturday evening.
Smith was originally charged with failure to stop and render aid, a 3rd degree felony with a bond set at $40,000.
Her charges were updated Sunday to felony failure to stop and render aid in the second degree. Smith's bond was to $100,000.
Her now-deleted social media accounts show her with children.
In 2008, Smith was convicted on marijuana possession in Harris County.
