Ana and Breana Casillas are suing the Austin Police Department, the City of Austin and the officer involved in the crash.
AUSTIN, Texas — Ana and Breana Casillas describe their mother Maria Casillas-Reyes as their best friend, helpful to everyone around her, and someone deeply admired by her community.
“It’s hard not being with the same person you’ve known all your life, and out of nowhere, she’s gone and she can’t come back,” said Breana Casilas.
Casillas-Reyes was 43-years-old when she was killed in a deadly wreck on June 30, which involved Austin Police Department (APD) officer Alyssa Pruess.
The Casillas sisters said they have received little to no answers from the police department since the crash, aside from getting their mother’s personal items back two weeks after the crash, which has led them to filing a lawsuit against the city, APD and Pruess.
The suit states that Casillas-Reyes was stopped on the outside lane of U.S. Hwy 183 with a flat tire and claims Pruess was not paying attention to the road and struck the back of her car.
“A lawyer said that on crash report, [APD] didn’t say that she was responding to a call, so that for us was a red flag,” said Ana Casillas. “They didn’t want to give us any information.”
The $1 million lawsuit claims negligence on Pruess’s part.
Pruess was also injured in the crash, and was taken to the hospital, but was released, according to a new release issued out on July 10.
“I feel like if [Pruess] would have been more cautious, [Casillas-Reyes] still would be here,” said Ana Casilas.
KVUE reached out to APD on several occasions about the status of the investigation, which is being handled by the department’s vehicular homicide unit, as well as Pruess’ current employment status. As of Friday, Dec. 22, there has been no response.
“We just we just want answers. We just want to know what happened to my mother. We really miss her. Nothing’s the same without her, and we’re just living in constant pain,” said Ana Casilas.
The sisters said their mother was a grandmother and had plans to get a van because she wanted more grandchildren.
“She basically was my son’s second mother. Right when she walked in the door, he was the first thing that she would pick up,” said Ana. “She said that she was always going to be here with us.”
Their only hope is to keep her memory alive and get just a smidge of justice.
“The hardest thing was to close her casket so the least we ask from them are was some answers, or at least some compassion from them … for their part, just to honor my mom’s death. But they couldn’t even do that,” said Breana Casilas.
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