The parents of an 18-year-old Texas woman whose death was initially declared a suicide are demanding answers after it emerged that she may have actually been killed in a hit-and-run crash.
Houston Police were called to the intersection of the East Freeway feeder road and Gregg Street on 6 February where Jesslyn Zuniga was found lying dead on the side of the roadway. Investigators thought she had jumped from the overpass above where a truck was found abandoned, but her parents didn’t believe that version of events.
“Yes. Right from the beginning. We know our daughter,” father Jose Zuniga told ABC13 on Friday.
“It’s just the most horrible feeling in the world,” her mother Sandy Garza said.
Herminio Orozco, 21, a friend of Ms Zuniga, has now been charged with failure to stop and render aid in an accident.
Court documents state that Mr Orozco went to the police 14 hours after Ms Zuniga was found and told law enforcement that she was flung from his truck when they crashed with a van, adding that he was too scared to stay in the area.
Records say that he was the driver while Ms Zuniga was in the front passenger seat.
“Come on. Leave somebody on the side of the road like that and run off? That’s cold. That’s a cold-blooded person,” Mr Zuniga told ABC13. “If it’s an accident, you call for help.”
The parents also questioned that she was ejected from the car and that her injuries stemmed from a crash. Preliminary autopsy results only state that the cause of death was an accident.
The parents say that the initial theory that it was a suicide doesn’t help and that they will continue to ask questions.
“They said she committed suicide and now she didn’t commit suicide. You’d want answers. That’s what we want. Answers,” Mr Zuniga told ABC13.
Mr Orozco has left jail on a $75,000 bond. Court records show a bond violation for not reporting to pre-trial services as well as failing to get an ankle monitor.
In a press release on 8 April, Houston police said the crash occurred at around 3am on 6 February.
“A gray Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck ... struck a barrier multiple times, and came to a stop on the shoulder of the freeway. According to witnesses on the service road, a disturbance was heard and a male voice shouting,” the police statement said.
“A male and a deceased female (Ms Zuniga) were later observed on the service road. The male fled the scene on foot. Houston police homicide investigators initially opened an investigation into what at that time was believed to be a suicide,” the department added.
“Further investigation identified Orozco as the driver in this case. He was charged and subsequently arrested on February 25,” they said.
