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Crowd Kills Man After Car Hits Child
Police pleaded for witnesses who saw an angry mob fatally attack a man in a car that struck and injured a toddler.
Police said Thursday they had no additional information in the investigation into the death of David Rivas Morales, who had been defending the driver from a crowd beating.
Morales, 40, was riding in a car that entered an apartment complex parking lot Tuesday and struck 2-year-old Michael Hosea Jr., police said. The boy was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver got out of the car to check on the child and was confronted by several people, Police Commander Harold Piatt said. When they attacked the driver, Morales got out of the car to protect the driver and was attacked as well. No guns or knives were used, police said.
The driver got away and is cooperating with investigators.
There were conflicting accounts of how many people were in the area. Police originally estimated 2,000 to 3,000 and a woman who lives at the complex said hundreds who had been at a Juneteenth festival filled the parking lot and street.
But late Wednesday, police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz said witnesses reported that four or five men attacked Morales, knocking him to the ground and hitting him.
Chovanetz also said there was no connection to the nearby city-sponsored festival for Juneteenth, which commemorates Texas slaves getting the word that they had been freed.
Margaret Morales said a young boy came to her door to tell her that her brother was lying on the ground outside. She found David Morales, sprawled on the pavement 100 feet from her town house, battered and choking on blood.
She said her mother came running after hearing her screams, but police wouldn't let either of them get close to him.
Police arrived one minute after receiving a 911 call, by which time the beating had stopped, Chovanetz said. But the Morales family complained that medical help was slow in coming.
David Morales arrived at the hospital about 35 minutes after the 911 call was received, said Warren Hassinger, Austin-Travis County Emergency Services spokesman. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Crowd Kills Man After Car Hits Child
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The guy who hit the child got out to check on the kid and called the cops. The passanger went to help the driver from getting beat and got killed in the process.
The child is safe in the hospital and is ok.
These kinds of things should not happen. I can understand if someone hits a child and tries to run. If it was one guy this would not have happened. Since it was a crowd people go crazy and kill a guy.
What would you do in this situation? I would say out loud it was an accident, cops are coming hella times. If that don't work I would get in the car and drive off like driver did.
It was a crowd but it was four to five people attacking. I would have taken my knife out and threaten them and slash them if they didn't get away. It is better than death.
I would have thank God for the people who invented Arnis. I don't have a gun on me but do carry knife all the time. California law sucks, only four inch knife is legal but mine is bigger.
Police said Thursday they had no additional information in the investigation into the death of David Rivas Morales, who had been defending the driver from a crowd beating.
Morales, 40, was riding in a car that entered an apartment complex parking lot Tuesday and struck 2-year-old Michael Hosea Jr., police said. The boy was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver got out of the car to check on the child and was confronted by several people, Police Commander Harold Piatt said. When they attacked the driver, Morales got out of the car to protect the driver and was attacked as well. No guns or knives were used, police said.
The driver got away and is cooperating with investigators.
There were conflicting accounts of how many people were in the area. Police originally estimated 2,000 to 3,000 and a woman who lives at the complex said hundreds who had been at a Juneteenth festival filled the parking lot and street.
But late Wednesday, police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz said witnesses reported that four or five men attacked Morales, knocking him to the ground and hitting him.
Chovanetz also said there was no connection to the nearby city-sponsored festival for Juneteenth, which commemorates Texas slaves getting the word that they had been freed.
Margaret Morales said a young boy came to her door to tell her that her brother was lying on the ground outside. She found David Morales, sprawled on the pavement 100 feet from her town house, battered and choking on blood.
She said her mother came running after hearing her screams, but police wouldn't let either of them get close to him.
Police arrived one minute after receiving a 911 call, by which time the beating had stopped, Chovanetz said. But the Morales family complained that medical help was slow in coming.
David Morales arrived at the hospital about 35 minutes after the 911 call was received, said Warren Hassinger, Austin-Travis County Emergency Services spokesman. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Crowd Kills Man After Car Hits Child
12Next
Read All 13 Comments and Post Your Own
The guy who hit the child got out to check on the kid and called the cops. The passanger went to help the driver from getting beat and got killed in the process.
The child is safe in the hospital and is ok.
These kinds of things should not happen. I can understand if someone hits a child and tries to run. If it was one guy this would not have happened. Since it was a crowd people go crazy and kill a guy.
What would you do in this situation? I would say out loud it was an accident, cops are coming hella times. If that don't work I would get in the car and drive off like driver did.
It was a crowd but it was four to five people attacking. I would have taken my knife out and threaten them and slash them if they didn't get away. It is better than death.
I would have thank God for the people who invented Arnis. I don't have a gun on me but do carry knife all the time. California law sucks, only four inch knife is legal but mine is bigger.
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