A 21-year-old father of a 4-month-old baby girl was killed when a tire came loose and slammed through the windshield of his SUV on the Katy Freeway on Thursday, ABC reported.
Clayton Vaugh, 21, was sitting on the passenger seat of a KIA SUV travelling on the westbound side of the freeway in Houston when suddenly a tire flew through the windshield.
According to ABC, the crash happened at about 8.30 pm on Thursday. A photo from the Harris County Precinct 5 Constable's Office shows the SUV's windshield demolished.
According to authorities, the tire came from an 18-wheeler.
A witness told the news portal that she saw the tire fly off the trailer of a black truck, which did not have a license plate. According to the witness, the tire was bouncing around before another truck made contact with it.
"It went straight into the windshield like 'Boom!' I saw it. I saw glass and I saw the hood pop up and the car started spinning," the eyewitness recalled.
Vaughn's uncle, Evan Richard, told ABC13 the family hopes more witnesses come forward in the hope of getting more answers.
"I'm not here to place judgment," Richard said. "Things happen, but obviously, negligence of some sort played a role in this. He was a passenger in a vehicle struck by an oncoming tire. What are the chances of something like this happening? (You should) know, you are endangering lives around you, and I can't bring him back. But I can get the message out that you can do better. The city can do better."
The family created a GoFundMe to help raise his 4-month-old daughter and funeral expenses.
