A Texas mother was killed Monday after reportedly jumping in front of three children to shield them from a moving car near an elementary school parking lot.
Per the El Paso Times, Roger Hawking, 58, was picking up his grandchildren from Mary N. Tippin Elementary’s parking lot when he was backing out of a space and hit the gas instead of the breaks. Fox News reported it was then when Kharisma Ashlee James, 33, jumped in front of her two children—ages 6 and 7—and a 10-year-old and bore the brunt of the impact.
James, an Army veteran and nurse, was killed. Meanwhile, the three children were seriously injured but are expected to survive, according to El Paso Independent School District Police Chief Victor Araiza.
According to the New York Post, officials said the Hawking had become “disorientated” and struck another car before barrelling into James and the three children on a nearby roadway.
Ariza said during a press conference Tuesday that the mother was trying to “get the attention of the driver and intervene” when she was fatally struck.
No charges have been filed against Hawking. The driver was in custody Monday evening as police began their investigation, the El Paso Times reported.
“We don’t know if the driver was having a medical issue,” Araiza said, adding that Hawking was possibly “confused.”
“We just don’t know yet.”
EPISD officials providing an update on the deadly crash that happened in the parking lot of Tippin Elementary in West El Paso.
Posted by Ryan Hill on Tuesday, August 14, 2018
[Featured Image: Kharisma Ashlee James/Facebook]
