Family of Kingsland man killed in Austin hit-and-run marks his 25th birthday

KILLEEN, Texas - January 22, 2023 would have been Ian Lewis' 25th birthday.

24-year-old Lewis was driving home from a concert in Austin, Texas on August 27, 2022 with his son, girlfriend, and girlfriend's daughter when a vehicle rear-ended them on I-35. The collision occurred on the upper deck between 38th and 39th Street.

When Lewis got out the vehicle to get the other driver's insurance information, a tractor-trailer sideswiped both vehicles, hitting and killing Lewis. The driver never stopped.

To celebrate his life, his family came to visit him at the Central Texas State Veteran's Cemetery in Killeen. "He was excited to turn 25 because his insurance would have dropped today," says Ian Lewis' mother, Jamie Crawford.

Ian leaves behind his two-year-old son Jaxon.

"He asks about him all the time and we tell him he's in heaven," says Crawford.

Jamie Crawford says she wants to keep her son's memory alive for Jaxon. "Her and I started boxes and photo albums so when he gets old enough, we can sit down and tell him what happened," says Crawford.

Hit-and-run victim's family ask for help identifying driver

A Kingsland family is asking for help identifying the driver of a tractor-trailer who killed their loved one, Ian Lewis, in a hit-and-run. FOX 7 Austin's Shannon Ryan has more in this week's CrimeWatch.

However, months have passed, and his family still has no idea who was driving that tractor the night Ian was killed.

"Hopefully it will bring that driver to come forward because that person gets to lay their head down every night my son didn't get to have that choice," says Crawford.

Ian's family wants the person who killed him to come forward so they can heal during this difficult time.

"I think we're just looking for some closure so we can move on with our lives because right now it's really hard to think about all the things he could have done," says Kayrina Lambert, the mother of Ian's child.

Jamie says she hopes by sharing Ian's story it will help others to be more cautious on the highway.

"If you see someone pulled over on the side of the road, go to a different lane, you know they have the same right as everybody else because if the driver would have seen him and pulled over to the other side of the lane he would still be here," says Crawford.