A speeding car struck Janice Walker on Dafoste Avenue, killing her. Police say the driver fled the scene—sparking calls for increased road safety measures.
SAN ANTONIO — Marie Rose says she was sitting outside her house, on her phone, when she heard a speeding car headed straight for a 90 degree turn in the road on Dafoste Avenue.
When the road curved, the Mercedes sedan kept going straight, jumping a 12-inch curb and smashing a 70-year-old woman before crashing into the front of her house.
Rose said police told her the car was probably going about 60 miles per hour when it crushed Janice Walker.
“When I saw that car, it flew up like a plane getting ready to take off and then ran straight into the house and she was sitting right there on the porch,” Rose said, while fighting back tears.
“I saw her sitting there on the porch and he impaled her into the front door and knocked her through the door,” Rose said, adding that both she and her father ran to help the woman who was trapped under the shattered debris of her home.
“My dad hopped the car to try to get over the car and get in there and he pulled a big old heavy door off of her and she was crying out,” Rose said.
When the young male driver jumped out of the car and started to run away, Rose said she begged him to stay put.
“I was shook! I was crying! I was like in tears but all I could think about was ‘Damn. Why? What the heck? What are you doing? What’s wrong with you?’ And all he could think about was leaving the scene,” Rose said.
Rose said the chaotic scene was heartbreaking and she had a message for the man who ran.
“You could have stayed with us and we would have prayed with you and we could try to be advocates for you, but you decided to be a coward and leave the scene and let that woman die by herself,” she said. “Her legs broken, her ankles broken, bleeding out. She’s a diabetic, sir, like you just left her!”
Rose said the victim’s 86-year-old mother was one room away from the crash and she tried to comfort her dying daughter, while waiting for first responders.
Police said Walker was rushed to the hospital but she died shortly after arrival.
Family member Anntwanette Hamilton said Walker was her father’s sister and she called her an outgoing person who loved to sit outside on her porch and greet all passersby warmly.
“She would help anyone with life concerns. She didn’t have financial means but she would tell you all the different things you should look out for, what you should do to help yourself out, how to conduct yourself in the world, and who to look out for,” Hamilton said. “That was her. She could give you a whole life lesson.”
Hamilton said family members have been in danger for years, since the city completed an improvement project next door at Dafoste Park.
Hamilton said the home used to be protected by a cyclone fence and a hedgerow that helped stopped vehicles that have made it only as far as the front yard in the past. She says signage warning drivers of the sharp curve was removed at the same time and never replaced.
Mourning her loss, Hamilton said the city should act now to address the danger.
“I would like for them to come fix what they’re supposed to fix four years ago and they should put another sign with blinking lights informing people there is a curve so they can start slowing down,” Hamilton said.
Armond Hathaway lives a few blocks away and he is the president of the Coliseum/Willow Park Neighborhood Association.
Hathaway said he would greet Walker on his daily trips to the nearby Salado Creek walking trail.
“I walked down here every day and they’re always out waving at me when I go by,” Hathaway said when he came to pay his respects to the family.
“Recently our neighborhood association was instrumental in obtaining speed bumps on Honey Boulevard as well as Gay Boulevard, and they’ve always suggested having speed bumps here, but some of the previous administrations didn’t go for that,” he said.
He said he hopes city leaders will revisit the topic and take action.
“This is a blind corner and no one should have to die for them to consider putting speed bumps over here,” Hathaway said.
He said both Walker and her mother are well known and respected in the area.
“We love someone like that and we hope that if they’re needing anything, our association and those folks that live here in the Coliseum/Willow Park will respond by making some nice donations for them if they need the help,” Hathaway said.
Hathaway called the area, just south of the Frost Bank Center, a legacy neighborhood where families settled in decades ago and stayed.
“There’s still about 30 original families here from when this neighborhood was built in the early 50s,” Hathaway said, adding that some are so advanced in age now that they continue to show up to meetings as they can.
“When we have the night out activity, they show up in the wheelchairs and walkers and just enjoy the festivity and see all the people, all the neighbors,” Hathaway said, adding he is also proud of the many new families that have chosen to plant roots.
“There are a lot of new, beautiful young families out here with kids and that’s what we worry about preventing accidents like this,” he said. ‘So we’re trying to reach out to everyone, the beautiful Black and Hispanic families that are in this part of the city. They realize this is a great area to live in and grow up and raise a family.”
Hathaway said the current neighborhood leadership learned from some of the best early activists in the area, like Mrs. Wray Hood, who was a powerhouse in getting things done until her death in 2016.
“What was unique about her years and years ago when they were attempting to do Hemisfair, when they started clearing out, they started dumping all of the trash over here and Mrs. Hood, my mom, several other little ladies from the neighborhood got together and said ‘No,’ and they were able to convince them to stop dumping over here and one day build a park for the neighborhood. And then finally, took many years later, but they did do the park,” Hathaway said with obvious pride.
Hathaway said he knows they can continue to fight for change because he has witnessed the power of people working together.
“Mrs. Hood and all the little ladies of COPS, or Citizens On Patrol, they were instrumental in making this park over here happen and the camaraderie that they have as neighbors and friends,” Hathaway said.
Hathaway said he hopes something positive will come from this terrible loss.
“It’s too bad someone would have to suffer to maybe bring some more attention to the speed in the area, but it’s a great area that the kids play soccer, the people play tennis. We’re trying to get a pickleball added to the court, so we know it’s gonna be a lot of folks here and it could be dangerous if people don’t slow down,” Hathaway said.
Meanwhile, police report no arrests in the case yet. The only description provided by witnesses was a thin-framed young man wearing a red shirt and black pants, who ran west on Dafoste from the crash site.
The non-emergency number for SAPD is 210-207-7484 for anyone who might have a helpful clue.
A fund has been set up to help the family with expenses related to the crash.