Diana DeLeon, 38, was struck by a vehicle while walking alogn West Mount Houston near Ella Blvd. early Saturday. She died at the scene. Officials say the driver did not even stop to try and help the victim.
Investigators still don't have a lot to go on. That's why they are looking for help and hoping someone will call in a tip that will lead them to the driver responsible for her death.
Even those who hardly knew DeLeon while she was alive are touched by her death.
"My heart goes out to their family," neighbor Cynthia Resendez said.
Resendez remembers DeLeon as a mother who was devoted to her family. One who died senselessly.
"It may not have been my loved one, but still hurts," she said.
It hurts, she said, to know that someone driving on Texas 249 early Saturday struck DeLeon and then left her to die.
Deputies found her body in the 2100 block around 2am.
Investigators said she had been walking east in the inside lane when she was hit. Her injuries were so severe that they couldn't tell her gender.
"[They] just left her there like a dead animal. It didn't matter," DeLeon's co-worker Crysty Reyes said.
DeLeon worked for years as a manager at a Wings 'N More restaurant not far from her home. There, employees struggle with the reality that she is gone.
"She was loved," Reyes said. "She was loved by everybody here."
DeLeon's family was too distraught to talk publicly Sunday night, but neighbors are taking up for them while they can't speak.
"There's no bringing her back, but whoever did hurt her, please turn yourself in. That's all we ask for," Resendez said.
Detectives know little about the hit-and-run driver. Authorities describe the suspect vehicle only as a small, black sedan. They don't have the make, model or license plate number.
If you know anything that can help them track the driver down, you can call the Harris County Sheriff's Office at 713-674-5393 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
