A two-year-old child was killed in a crash in the Hockley area on Saturday evening, in a collision that authorities say began when a U-Haul truck driver fell asleep behind the wheel. The death has cast a shadow over the community as investigators piece together how a routine evening on the road turned deadly for a young family.
According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, the driver of the U-Haul truck drifted off to sleep while driving and lost control of the vehicle. As the driver dozed, the truck crossed over into oncoming traffic on FM 2920, putting it directly into the path of other vehicles travelling along the road at the time.
Among those in the truck's path was a mother who was driving with her two young children. Seeing the U-Haul coming toward her, she tried to steer clear of the oncoming truck. In the effort to avoid a head-on collision, her vehicle left the roadway and ended up in a ditch beside the road.
Despite the attempt to get out of the way, the crash proved fatal for the youngest of the family. The woman's two-year-old child died as a result of the collision, the only person killed in the incident according to the sheriff's account of what happened on FM 2920.
The mother, along with her eight-month-old child and the driver of the U-Haul truck, were all taken to the hospital after the crash. Authorities said the three of them were expected to recover from the injuries they suffered when the two vehicles came together on the rural roadway.
The crash remains under investigation, with deputies still working to confirm the full sequence of events on FM 2920. As the inquiry continues, the sheriff's office has pointed to the U-Haul driver falling asleep at the wheel as the trigger for the collision that claimed the toddler's life and sent three others to hospital.