HOUSTON — A mother of three wants to get her story out. She lost what would have been her fourth child after she was involved in a minor crash and then kicked in the stomach multiple times.
She was nearly six months pregnant at the time of the incident. She asked for her identity to be concealed since the woman who assaulted her hadn't been caught.
It happened on July 29 at a corner store off Lockwood when the victim said her flip-flop got stuck in between the gas and brake pedals. She said she hit a parking pole and then hit the gas to get over a curb. That's when she side-swiped the store owner's car.
"I got stuck ... I gave a little bit of gas, and I side-swiped a vehicle behind me," she said.
When her vehicle came to rest, she got out to survey the damage. That's when she was approached by the suspect.
"I thought maybe I hit her car because she came up from behind me ... came up and grabbed my purse out of the passenger seat of the car," she said.
In surveillance video, the victim can be seen following the suspect demanding to get her purse back.
"She has my wallet out and she's taking all my credit cards out," she said.
She said that when she asked for her purse back, the suspect kicked her in the stomach. She said she told the woman that she was pregnant, but she kicked her again, this time harder.
On the second kick, the victim said she felt pain.
"I started crying because when she kicked me the second time, it hurt," she said.
She said that when officers arrived, they didn't believe her. She convinced them to watch the surveillance video, which showed her being kicked. That's when she said they called for an ambulance and she was taken to an area hospital.
After a few ultrasounds, doctors told her the baby didn't have a heartbeat and they induced her.
"I cried a lot in the hospital. It didn't seem real. I think the hardest thing was giving natural birth to her," she said.
Doctors weren't able to say if the baby died as a result of the kicks but the victim said she hopes to have an autopsy done soon to see if they can determine a cause of death. She's trying to come up with a way to pay for the autopsy out of her pocket as well as get the baby, who she named Nevaeh, cremated.
"I lay in bed ... cry a lot of times -- why did this happen to me? Why did she have to be taken from me?" she said.
Now, she wants the woman who kicked her to be caught and held responsible.
"I would like to find this lady and bring justice to my daughter," she said.
The officers who responded to the scene initially didn't file a police report against the woman accused of kicking the victim. She said she called the police a couple of days later and was assigned a detective to look into the case. Anyone with information about the woman in the video is asked to call the Houston Police Department or Crime Stoppers.
The victim said her car was towed from the scene and she couldn't find where it was towed. She said it was auctioned off after 30 days.