The driver, identified as 83-year-old Gonzalo Narvaez, did not stop. A witness was able to follow him and alert police. He’s now in jail.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Moody High School teen continues to recover in the ICU on Monday after she was struck by a hit-and-run driver Thursday as she walked to school.
The teen was using a crosswalk at Greenwood Drive and Trojan Drive when she reportedly was hit by 83-year-old Gonzalo Narvaez.
He remains in the Nueces County Jail after a witness was able to track him down and alert Corpus Christi Police Department officers.
The teen, Emily Sanchez, is facing months of recovery, according to her mother, Elizabeth Sanchez.
3NEWS was able to speak with Elizabeth Sanchez outside of Christus Spohn Hospital Shoreline, where her daughter has endured three surgeries.
Elizabeth Sanchez said there is currently not a school zone where her daughter was hit, despite it being a busy crossing for children.
It’s a walk to school Emily Sanchez has taken countless times before, using the crosswalk to get to the other side of a busy Greenwood Drive.
She lives just four blocks away from Moody, but this past Thursday, Elizabeth Sanchez said that familiar walk ended with a trip to the emergency room.
“The truck hit her on the right side,” Elizabeth Sanchez said. “They said she flew. She was on the crosswalk to school, broke her femur, severed an artery.”
She’s now fighting for her life, contending with internal bleeding, a broken jaw, broken ribs, and a broken femur.
“She’s strong,” said Elizabeth Sanchez, who is also trying to remain strong. “They say she’s lucky she’s so young.”
The site of the accident less than half a mile from Moody High School. The speed limit is 35 miles an hour.
“There’s never been a school zone there, there’s a lot of kids that cross there, so she’s not the only one,” Elizabeth Sanchez said.
The city said there are reduced-speed zones within 300 ft. of the school property lines along Trojan Drive and Castenon Drive.
The city also highlighted safety enhancements at Greenwood and Trojan, which include flashing yellow-arrow signals to improve traffic flow.
There are also pedestrian push buttons with accessible and audio messaging to help navigate crossing.
“Her freshman year, I asked the city about a school zone,” Elizabeth Sanchez said. “They wanted me to get a petition out to OK that.”
She said she didn’t get enough signatures to move forward.
Police said the driver reportedly kept going after hitting Emily with his truck, and did not stop to offer help.
Officers found the hit-and-run vehicle in the 1800 block of Horne Road, due to the quick-thinking of a witness who followed the vehicle and informed officers of its location.
“Hit-and-runs, if you fail to remain at the scene and the person is injured, there’s a charge for accident involving injury or death,” said CCPD Traffic Lt. Michael Peña. “From something that might have just been a citation, now is an arrestable offense.”
Elizabeth Sanchez is thankful for the good Samaritans who stepped up to help her daughter.
“I appreciate you, so much, who followed the vehicle that hit my daughter,” she said. “There were several people who stopped. Someone gave her CPR. She wouldn’t be here, it made a difference people stopped.”
Emily Sanchez’s family now focused on the teen’s recovery, with a GoFundMe active to help with mounting expenses.
Meantime, the city said any new requests for any traffic-control device including school zones are done by the traffic division within the public works department.
- City ordinance (53-2) defines a school zone as “…street, alley and public ground, or part thereof, within three hundred (300) feet of the nearest property line of any school or remotely located school pedestrian crosswalk associated with such school, public or private, having a regular average attendance of one hundred and fifty (150) pupils, whereabout advance school advance warning signs and school speed limit regulatory signs (conforming to the “Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices”) shall have been erected and are conspicuously displayed on such street, alley or ground indicating the approach to the boundary line of such school zone…”
- New requests for any traffic control device, including school zones, are administered by the Traffic Division within the Public Works Department. The Traffic Division works with school principals or the ISD’s designated representatives on requests. Requests received from the general public are presented to the school district for consideration.
- Process:
- Step 1 : Contact traffic engineering via email (trafficengineering@cctexas.com ) or phone (361.826.3547) to obtain general information, application information, and eligibility criteria.
- Step 2: Submit an application. Requests for adding/removing a school zone must be submitted by the Principal or designated ISD Representative.
- Step 3: Evaluation of the request which involves a traffic study.
- Step 4: Notification of study results and recommendations.
- Step 5: Installation