'It was a family': Widow of fallen HPD officer remembers deputy constable killed on Katy Freeway

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The death of Harris County Precinct 5 deputy constable Katherine Hutson is taking a toll on the widow of a fallen HPD officer.

"So many people are hurting right now, and a lot of us are still in shock that this happened to her and her poor daughter," Keira Knox-Giles said.

Knox-Giles is remembering Hutson, and is heartbroken for her family.

"She was an outstanding cop, very good at her job, an amazing mother," she said.

Hutson, an 18-year veteran with the Harris County Precinct 5 Constable's Office was killed while off-duty but working an extra job overnight in traffic control during a road closure on the Katy Freeway.

According to Houston police, Omar Jose Alvarado, 23, was impaired, when he plowed into Hutson's vehicle. Her 8-year-old daughter, Kacey, was with her and also died in the fiery crash.

Four and a half years ago, Knox-Giles received similar devastating news.

"Today it felt like it was yesterday," she explained.

Keira is the widow of Jason Knox, a tactical flight officer who was killed in May of 2020 when HPD's helicopter crashed in north Houston. But before Jason Knox was an HPD officer, he worked with Hutson at Precinct 5.

"It was a family, and they all worked together, you know, just pulling people over, working accidents, doing what they did," she said.

The two had the same birthday and became fast friends. Friday, Keira found a picture of them together at another deputy's funeral in 2007.

"They were standing there, and it was a weird thing. They are reunited again," she said.

Seventeen years later, they would both be gone.

"He's probably just giving her one of those great, big bear hugs and holding her tight and telling her everything is going to be okay and we've got the rest of it down here."

Hutson was a single mother to Kacey, said Knox-Giles, and also leaves behind an adult son. She said Hutson worked tirelessly to provide for her family.

"Why else would you be working on the freeway at 3 a.m. when you didn't have to be," she said.

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