Trucker stayed on delivery route after hitting teen with truck in League City: Police
LEAGUE CITY, Texas (KTRK) -- League City Police say the man who's charged in a hit-and-run death continued making deliveries on his morning delivery route.
Investigators say Phillip James Antoine was caught on surveillance video hitting River Russell, a 19-year-old who was skateboarding down S. Egret Bay Boulevard.
RELATED: Delivery driver charged in hit-and-run that killed teen in League City
The Penske truck driver is now behind bars with an $85,000 bond, charged with accident involving death, a second degree felony.
Detectives say Russell was hit around 3:40 a.m. near Hewitt Road as he was skateboarding in the southbound lane.
Court records state the teen spoke with his father by phone just an hour before his death, telling him he wasn't ready to sleep and was heading out to skateboard.
His mother describes her son as a night owl, writing on Facebook, "Even after getting a car though, he loved being outside in the night air. On these midnight walks/rides, and against our better judgement, he helped people stranded in broken down cars, he rescued stray animals and brought them food."
Investigators say a surveillance image of the delivery truck that hit Russell was the key that broke the case. Through area cameras, detectives backtracked the truck's route to a Kroger store on 250 S. Egret Bay Blvd.
Records say store employees confirmed Phillip Antoine made a delivery around 3:22 a.m. the same morning of the hit-and-run.
Detectives say after leaving the Kroger location, Antoine was heading to his final Kroger delivery, traveling down S. Egret Bay Boulevard when he hit the teen near Hewitt.
SEE ALSO: 19-year-old dies 2 days after hit-and-run crash in League City
Court records say a camera inside the truck captured the crash and the driver's reaction, saying "Antoine was aware he hit River as he screamed and loudly stated 'Mother'."
But they say the driver never stopped and instead still made his final delivery to another Kroger store just five minutes later.
On Tuesday, balloons and flowers marked the spot where the teen was left for dead.
Russell's family, still in grief, declined to speak with ABC 13 Eyewitness News about the new details in this case.
RELATED: Mom says son wished to become organ donor before being killed in League City crash
They say Russell's organ donation will help save the lives of six other people, ages 17-70 years old.
