Driver on DWI probation mows down boy, laughs at deadly attack
A drunk driver on parole repeatedly ran his truck over a 6-year-old Houston boy, reportedly stopping on his head and killing him — then chillingly laughed while the anguished grandfather sought help.
Dana Hubbard told ABC13 he and grandson Darien Lewis were on their way to get a snack at a local convenience store when Pedro Alberto Hernandez, 52, mowed the boy down in a parking lot.
Hernandez was on probation for a 2020 DWI conviction, according to the station.
Under terms of his probation, he cannot drink and had to install an ignition interlock device on his vehicle. Hernandez later admitted he’d had four beers before the gruesome incident Saturday.
“He came in on my left side and hit my grandson. That’s how close he was to me,” Hubbard told ABC13. “I was able to hit his car to let him know what happened. I ran around and I said, ‘You just hit my grandson!’
“He stopped, he backed up, drove over my grandson again, and stopped his truck on his head,” the grief-stricken granddad said, adding the driver smirked at him while he was shouting to get off his grandson.
Hubbard said he then opened the driver’s door.
“I swung out on him because he was laughing and thought it was funny,” he said.
Hernandez was charged with murder and DWI as a third or more offense.
His bond was initially set at a combined $600,000, but later raised to $950,000 — $850,000 for the murder charge and $100,000 for DWI.
“They let him get away. The buck has to stop somewhere. Someone has to be held accountable for their actions — not more slap on the wrist,” Hubbard said.
He said his grandson was autistic, but was able to show his love and was learning to say more words.
“That part is hard,” Hubbard told the outlet. “Knowing what he could have been, even though he was disabled, knowing he could not live out his full potential.”
Hernandez’s wife expressed her sorrow to the family, but insisted her husband had not been drinking before the deadly incident.
