Round Rock family speaks, mourns for daughter after fatal auto-pedestrian crash
Two-year-old Allie Estelle was Chris and Jamie White’s perfect little gift from God. "She was tiny, but she was so strong and so beautiful,” said Chris.
Both agree she was spunky, sweet and a little bit of a boss towards her three older siblings. "She had this sparkle in her eyes from the moment she was born, that you could just see, and you immediately fell in love with her because she was just so bright and so full of life and full of compassion and love,” said Jamie.
On Sunday, their little girl died when she was hit by a car in a parking lot near the Old Settlers Park soccer fields.
"Every time I see it happen, and I replay it, it's very painful,” said Chris.
Chris said he was in the park, right by Allie, when his world fell apart. His two sons were already out on the soccer field, when he took Allie out of the car and started putting sunscreen on her. He turned back to the car for a second to put away the can of sunscreen. In that second, Allie started running towards one of her brothers on the field.
"As she was running, I saw the car coming really quickly from the main road that didn't slow down, and I started screaming and ran after her,” said Chris. “And within a matter of two seconds, my poor baby was kind of knocked over with the front fender. And I was screaming and telling them to stop. I was reaching to grab her, [and then] the back of the vehicle went right over her."
No charges have been filed in Sunday’s incident, according to Round Rock Police. However, Chris and other people who were at the park that day tell CBS Austin the driver was on their phone and driving too quickly. Chris said the driver finally stopped a few feet after hitting Allie.
"Then the lady came out of the car on her cell phone and didn't appear to even know what she had done,” said Chris. “I think they thought they ran over a soccer ball."
Jamie was not at the park when the accident happened, but when she arrived, she was shocked to see so many people showing support for their daughter. "I didn't know what to do other than just fall into my knees praying,” she said. “And everybody in the whole parking lot, all the firefighters and police officers, anybody that wasn't resuscitating was down on their knees, coaches, players just praying over her."
Allie's family hopes their tragedy will serve as a reminder to other drivers to be cautious where children may be present. "Maybe we could save other babies from having to go through this, and other parents from having to feel this heartache,” said Jamie. "If we could help people change a little of their habits to be safer, then there's positive coming out of this,” said Chris.
In addition to practicing more cautious drivers, he wants to speak with the city of Round Rock about implementing safeguards, like a speed bump, at entrances to the parking lots near the soccer fields to ensure drivers reduce speed. "If there had been a speed bump anywhere in the parking lot coming off the main road, they would've had to have hit the speed bump and they would've damaged their car and not hit my baby,” said Chris. "I want to talk to the city and try to find out how we can do something, at least to prevent this tragedy from happening to other children."
