Man with intellectual disability walking from group home, hit and killed on Highway 6, HCSO says

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A man, who neighbors say should have been supervised, is dead after he was hit by a vehicle in northwest Harris County on Thursday evening.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office said the man was hit along Highway 6 and Forest Trails Drive in the Copperfield area just after 5 p.m.

The victim was a 27-year-old man with an intellectual disability, HCSO confirmed. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators believe he did not yield to traffic. The driver stayed at the scene.

The crash prompted the closure of all southbound lanes of the street near West Road.

SkyEye flew over the scene, where a red SUV could be seen with extensive damage to its front bumper and windshield.

Editor's note: HCSO initially reported that the victim was on bicycle. That was confirmed to have not been true and has since been corrected.

Neighbors were heartbroken to learn of the tragedy. HCSO confirms that the victim lived at a group home a block away from the scene.

"That is our understanding. That he was supposed to be supervised by the personnel at the group home. We do have a boarding home detail at the Harris County Sheriff's Office and they will be following up on this as well," HCSO Major Susan Cotter, said.

"These kids have intellectual disabilities. So it's the responsibility of the company to keep an eye on these kids 24/7 and when they don't have an eye on them, you have incidents like this occur," Andrew, a neighbor in the area, said.

Representatives, who were standing outside the group home on Forest Trails Drive, would not comment to ABC13.

Andrew said he and other neighbors have complained about the home for about a year, fearing something tragic would happen.

"This is negligence. That's what it is," he said.

The driver did not appear to be at fault, Cotter said.

The victim has not yet been identified, according to officials.

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