Teen driver at center of fatal wreck speaks out

HOUSTON That six-year-old girl survived the accident, but she is brain dead and not expected to survive, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. She is in the Intensive Care Unit at Memorial Hermann, and her father is there too, keeping watch over her, after the accident Monday killed the girl's mother and teenage brother.

Eyewitness News spoke to the driver of the other vehicle, a teenager who went to the same school as the girl's brother.

A broken fence. An investigator's latex glove. Pieces of a tail light. That's all that remains of a fatal accident on North Gessner at Brookriver that killed a mother and her teenage son. It also critically injured her six-year-old daughter.

The three were in a minivan turning onto North Gessner when a Chevy Tahoe carrying three teenagers slammed into them. The minivan was crushed, and the Tahoe rolled.

Witnesses told deputies the teens were racing a pickup truck, but the 17-year-old boy behind the wheel of the Tahoe says that's not true.

"I wasn't racing. My best friend was in the vehicle next to me. It's his truck. Yeah, it's loud and that's probably why they thought we were racing," said Christopher Yovino, the driver of the Tahoe.

Investigators say that area of North Gessner is not a known street racing spot.

All of the teens were students at Jersey Village High School. The six-year-old girl attended Gleason Elementary School. A Cy-Fair ISD spokeswoman says counselors were at both schools Tuesday to help students cope with the tragedy.

Christopher Yovino's mother didn't want to go on camera, but told Eyewitness News their family is taking the accident and the deaths very hard. Our interview with Yovino was cut short before we could ask him how he felt about the accident.

He maintained he wasn't racing, but did tell us he was speeding.

"Middle fifties, probably 50 miles per hour. Just a little," Yovino said.

The name of the 15-year-old boy who died in the minivan was Christopher Nuno. He was coming home from band practice.

Investigators told us they are still talking to witnesses and still planning to reconstruct the accident.

There is no word yet if any charges will be filed.