Family said Frances Carriaga Beacham was active in AA after struggling with alcohol for much of her life. She and her service dog were killed on Valentine’s Day.
SAN ANTONIO — A grandmother and her service dog were both hit and killed by an accused drunk-driver, and family members say the victim had been working for years to turn her life around.
It happened on Valentine’s Day. The driver is out on bond and is only facing a DWI charge. The victim is Frances Carriaga Beacham. Her daughters Juanita Moore and Tricia Whitman talked about their mother’s unexpected death.
“It was just a shock,” Moore said. “It was hard to believe.”
Whitman said her mother lived with her, and she heard the sirens the night it happened. At the time, she had no idea it for her mother. Later that night, police came by the home to notify the family it was their mother who was killed just practically down the street.
On Valentine’s Day, police said 44-year-old Keenan Ramsey was intoxicated when he hit Frances and her dog, ‘Baby Boy.’ The two just got off the bus in the 12000 block of Jones Maltsberger Road. Police said they were crossing the street, not using a pedestrian crosswalk. Ramsey was only charged with a DWI.
“The detective had told us that unfortunately with traffic laws, it is almost like a loophole,” the daughter said. “That if whoever is crossing the street isn’t on crosswalk or where they aren’t supposed to be walking, they can’t charge the driver with anything. I mean he was under the influence.”
The two daughter’s said their mom lived a sober life, and was active in her Alcoholics Anonymous support group.
“A lot of people were really inspired by her story, because she was 65 years-old and had been struggling most of her life,” Whitman said, “And she had just started turning things around.”
“My mom spent almost two years of her life getting herself cleaned from alcohol, only to lose her life because somebody wanted to be selfish and get on the road,” Moore said.
SAPD told KENS 5, Frances was not using a crosswalk or wearing reflective clothing and that the pedestrian has responsibility too in following traffics laws. In this case, police said that didn’t happen. Police said if other factors, like reflective clothing came in to play, manslaughter could have been considered as a charge.
The family is also ” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>raising money for funeral expenses. They also told KENS 5 someone picked their mom’s phone, from the scene, and they are hoping to get that back.
[embedded content]