Hit-and-run victim's mother begs for suspect to come forward
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- More than three weeks after Karina Williams was killed while checking her flat tire on the Post Oak exit ramp of West loop 610, her mother has a message for all drivers.
"If you have a flat tire, or if you have an accident, if you need to pull over, don't get out of your car," Maria Huff said. "Drive to a safe place, that's the best thing to do."
Karina was just 27-year-old when she was killed.
She was a 2012 graduate of North Shore High School where she was a standout athlete.
"One of the star basketball players, she was the sharp shooter," Huff said. "She was their three-pointer."
Her mother told us Karina gave up several college scholarship offers in order to go to school close to home.
It took some work, but she finally graduated from University of Houston this summer with a degree in Sports Administration. She had a dream to coach one day.
But on September 24, it was all wiped out.
"She had her whole life ahead of her," Huff said. "She had her whole life, and she had plans. She wanted to be somebody, and she was beautiful."
Police said Karina was driving her white Dodge Charger southbound on the West Loop when she got a flat tire.
She pulled over on the Post Oak exit ramp and parked around 3 a.m.
Karina called her sister for a ride, but then got out of the car, her mom said.
"Apparently when she got out to check the flat tire, somebody sped down and just hit her, didn't stop, (and) just kept on going," said Huff.
She tells ABC13 the suspect's car, a Toyota sedan, was found abandoned in a field days later but the driver is still free.
Huff is pleading for the driver to turn themselves in to bring justice in her daughter's name and to accept the forgiveness she has already found.
"Me being mad at this person is not going to bring my baby back," she said. "It's not. She's never going to come back no matter how much I get angry, no matter how much I lash out at this person."
If you know anything about the driver who fled this fatal hit and run, call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
A GoFundMe account was established to help the family cover unexpected funeral costs.
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