The victim was eight months pregnant with her fourth child when she was hit by a driver while crossing SE Military Drive. The driver did stay on scene.
SAN ANTONIO — A pregnant mother of three was hit and killed on the city’s south side last week. Now, the community is stepping up to support the three children left behind.
The crash happened on August 21 around 10:30 p.m. near SE Military Drive and Old Corpus Christi Road. The victim has been identified as Jeanette Espitia.
Her brother, Jesse Espitia, said Jeanette had taken the bus to buy diapers for her one-year-old. After getting off at a bus stop, police said she attempted to cross the street outside of a crosswalk and was struck by a driver, who stopped and rendered aid.
Jeanette was pushing her one-year-old daughter in a stroller at the time. Jesse said she managed to push the stroller out of harm’s way before being hit.
“She was the best mom these kids could ever have. She would give everything and devoted her time to them until the very end,” Jesse said.
Jesse said his sister was eight months pregnant with a baby boy she planned to name after another sibling who had passed away a year and a half ago.
“I love her. I’m going to miss her. She’ll always be my best friend,” Jesse said.
With the loss of his sister, Jesse—who has already lost all of his immediate family—was left grieving, alone and financially strained. That’s when Rudy Lopez, a south-side business owner, saw the story on the news and felt called to act.
“I told my wife, ‘We need to help them. We need to step up,’” Lopez said.
Lopez reached out to Jesse, a stranger, and offered to cover funeral expenses.
“I didn’t think that I would be able to give my sister a proper funeral,” Jesse said.
But Lopez didn’t stop there. He later learned Jeanette had an eviction hearing scheduled for September.
“He needs help today. By Sept. 9, these kids are going to be homeless if we don’t move now,” Lopez said.
Lopez began collecting donations from his customers and raised enough to prevent the eviction.
“I told him not to worry about it, to be at peace. I want him to concentrate on the kids,” Lopez said.
Meanwhile, Jesse said his focus is on protecting and raising his nieces and nephews.
“I want her to know that I’ve got the kids, that they’ll be taken care of—and that I’m going to miss her,” he said.
Police said the driver is cooperating with investigators. Jesse now hopes to push for a traffic study in the area, exploring whether safety improvements such as better lighting, an additional crosswalk or a traffic light could prevent another tragedy.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family.