East Texas woman 8 months pregnant loses baby in hit-and-run: 'They took something from me'
PALESTINE, Texas - Police in the East Texas city of Palestine, about 110 miles southeast of Dallas, are looking for a driver who struck a pregnant woman while she was crossing a road.
The victim lost the baby she was carrying.
Casi Hughes is a wife and mother of a 20-year-old stepdaughter and 13-year-old son.
Earlier this month, Hughes was eight months pregnant awaiting a baby boy when she lost him after being struck by a hit-and-run driver in Palestine.
"I want to know why they didn’t stop," she said.
Hughes and a group of family and friends just finished watching fireworks with a large crowd on the evening of July 3.
"We had walked across the street to the field over there so we could set up our chairs," she said.
The group was crossing East Palestine Avenue. Police say traffic was slow-moving because of the scale of the event.
"I was the last one because I had stopped to talk to one of the boy’s parents to make sure it was okay that he had come home with us," Hughes recalled. "And then all of a sudden, somebody said watch out, and I looked to my left, and there was a car. And I remember trying to jump out of the way."
The road where the hit-and-run happened had five lanes of traffic and no crosswalk in sight.
Hughes says everyone in her group except for her was in the center turn lane waiting for traffic to clear. She says she was walking to that lane just feet away when she was hit.
Palestine police say it was a white or silver passenger car that struck Hughes and kept driving east.
"I was being rolled over, and my husband was there. My friend April was there. I mean there were a bunch of people surrounding me," she said. "My husband was holding my neck and face area, and then April was holding my belly praying over me."
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Hughes was flown to a hospital severely injured with one thought on her mind.
"Y’all need to get the baby. Y’all need to take the baby. Y’all need to cut me open and get the baby," she said. "And the only thing I remember throughout that whole trip was the look on the flight mate’s face while he was trying to find the heartbreak. And I kept asking him if he could find it or if he heard anything at all, and it was like he wouldn’t even look at me. I just knew as soon as I watched him that he was gone."
Hughes is recovering from fractures of her back, face, pelvis, left leg and other issues.
Investigators have been searching for video and leads, but nothing solid has turned up. The vehicle likely has damage to the front end and possibly a headlight.
"Somebody knows something," Hughes said. "I want to know how they sleep at night knowing that they took something from me."
Hughes hopes sharing her story encourages someone to speak up.