‘Enough Is Enough’: Grandmother and Granddaughter Killed After Being Hit by Truck Packed with Illegal Immigrants
A 7-year-old Texas girl and her grandmother were killed Monday when the vehicle in which they were traveling was hit by a truck containing illegal immigrants.
Emilia Tambunga, a second-grade student at Ozona Elementary, and Maria Tambunga, her grandmother, were among four people killed, the Texas Department of Public Safety said, according to Concho Valley Homepage.
Two of the 11 illegal immigrants in the truck were also killed.
”On Monday in Ozona, a grandmother & granddaughter were killed after their car was hit during a high speed migrant chase. While I am heartbroken, I am also enraged. Enough is enough. Illegal immigration is killing Americans. We need to stop with the rhetoric & deliver solutions,” Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas posted on Twitter.
The incident began when a Texas Highway Patrol Trooper tried to stop a vehicle for a speeding violation, according to the Ozona Stockman. After the pickup truck he was chasing went out of sight, he stopped pursuing it. However, the Crockett County Sheriff’s Office picked up the chase.
The truck driven by Rassian Natery Comer of Louisiana then went through a red light and struck the pickup truck Maria Tambunga was driving, police said.
Comer is reported in serious condition at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Charges are pending.
“We want to say thank you for all the support and love our community has showed us. It is beyond needed and appreciated,” Elisa Tambunga said after the loss of her mother and daughter.
“My dad, sister and I are trying to process. We just need prayers right now,” she said.
Emilia Tambunga “was the sweetest, kindest, loving, smart and beautiful little girl,” said Jessica Luckie, the girl’s second-grade teacher.
Frank Tambunga recalled the accident.
“That evening, I received a message saying there was a pursuit of a vehicle coming from Pecos, or the west. There was some highway patrols in pursuit of the vehicle that was transporting illegals,” he said, according to KWES-TV.
“They were coming down the off-ramp, and my sister-in-law and her granddaughter were at the intersection of 163 and 15th street,” he said “That vehicle that they were chasing was coming right at them and just ran straight into them.”
Tambunga recalled his sister-in-law as “a strong lady, a very strong caring lady. I would say she would be there for anyone, doesn’t matter who, especially family.”
His niece was “really bright. She was a smart young lady. They’ll be really missed for sure,” he said.
