Lunch Worker Hits Student With Her Car At School

Houston Police have arrested an employee of the Alief Independent School District after she allegedly hit a student near the school where she worked in the school cafeteria.

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KHOU Channel 11 in Houston reported that on Wednesday, October 23rd, at approximately 2:30 p.m., Chinyere Iheagwam, 56, hit 18-year-old Anthony Velasquez as he was crossing the street with a group of students at High Road. After hitting Velasquez, Iheagwam crashed her car into another vehicle. 

According to court documents filed by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, Iheagwam She is currently facing charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.  

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Initially, a report of the accident from the Houston Police Department had indicated that the student had died at the scene of the crash. The report was later updated to indicate that Velasquez was taken to an area hospital for treatment of a skull fracture and was in critical condition. 

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Harris County District Attorney’s Office representative, Sean Teare,  told KHOU that investigators did not believe that Iheagwam was distracted at the time of the crash even though she had given police several different statements. Iheagwam had initially claimed that she had only been traveling 16 miles per hour in the school zone with a posted speed limit of 20 miles per hour. Iheagwam also claimed that she had swerved before hitting Velasquez but still ended up hitting him. Video surveillance footage taken from the scene indicates that Iheagwam passed a school bus, traveling at a high rate of speed just before she hit Velasquez.

Teare said that investigators do not believe that intoxication or driver distraction played any role in the crash and it is likely that Iheagwam was in a hurry to get somewhere else.

Iheagwam, who originally immigrated to the United States from Nigeria, used an interpreter during her court appearance last Thursday. The court set her bond at $30.000.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the Velasquez family pay medical expenses.