SAN MARCOS, Texas — UPDATE: The Medina County Sheriff's Office has arrested 28-year-old Jordan Michael Sannicola, who is suspected of fleeing the scene of a crash that killed a Texas State Student early in January.
San Marcos police identified Sannicola as the suspect after photos showed him arriving at Amazon's Kyle distribution facility in a box truck 15 minutes after the crash that killed Iliana Velez. He was arrested on Saturday for Accident Involving Death, a second-degree felony.
"At the time of his arrest, Sannicola had outstanding felony warrants from Kendall County for one count of Evading Arrest in a Vehicle and two counts of Abandoning/Endangering a Child," authorities said Monday. "As of this release, Sannicola remains in the Kendall County Jail on a $185,000 bond."
Original story
A mother’s plea for justice after a hit and run crash took the life of her daughter.
San Marcos Police are still looking for the driver of a box truck that who collided with Texas State University student Iliana Velez.
“Once she moved to college to San Marcos, she just blossomed,” said Iliana’s mother, Trula Velez. “She showed everyone all of her talents, her creativity.”
Trula said her daughter, 19-year-old Iliana had a bright future.
“She was very goal oriented and always wanted to make money, go to school,” said Trula.
A future, this grieving mother can now only imagine.
“And to have that taken from me, that person took part of me,” said Trula.
A student at Texas State University, Iliana was working the night shift at Amazon a few days a week to help pay for school, Trula said.
Iliana had left work around 2 a.m. on January 3rd and was traveling down I-35 Northbound near Wonder World Drive when the unimaginable happened.
“She was hit, collided with a box truck. She rolled over several times,” said Trula.
San Marcos Police said Iliana died on the scene.
The driver of that truck, police said, took off. The crash is now being investigated as an Accident Involving Death, a felony offense.
Investigators released surveillance snapshots of the truck and said they are still trying to track down the driver who is being considered a person of interest.
Trula said she hopes someone will be able to help identify the truck and the driver, but in the meantime she’ll continue fighting for justice for her daughter.
“I just want the person to come forward, even if it was an accident, if they were scared, if whatever the case may be, because I need closure,” said Trula.
Police said the cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Sgt. Myers with the San Marcos Police Department at smyers@sanmarcostx.gov.