Austin, Texas — Police on Wednesday were pleading for witnesses to help them track down members of an angry mob that beat a man to death after the car he was riding in apparently struck and injured a child.
Investigators were struggling to piece together what happened Tuesday when David Rivas Morales died defending the driver from members of a crowd leaving a Juneteenth celebration. There could have been anywhere from two to 20 attackers, Austin Police Commander Harold Piatt said.
The car in which Morales, 40, was a passenger had entered an apartment complex's parking lot when it struck a 3- or 4-year-old child, Piatt said. The child was taken to a hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries.
The driver got out of the car to check on the child and was confronted by several people, Piatt said. When they attacked the driver, Morales got out of the car to protect the driver and was attacked as well. Police said no guns or knives were used.
The driver got away and is cooperating with investigators, who are not releasing his name.
Margaret Morales said a young boy came to her door to tell her that her brother was lying on the ground outside. She found David Morales, sprawled on the pavement 100 feet from her townhouse, battered and choking on blood.
Police arrived one minute after receiving a 911 call, by which time the beating had stopped, department spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz said. But the Morales family complained that medical help was slow in coming.
David Morales arrived at the hospital about 35 minutes after the 911 call was received, said Warren Hassinger, Austin-Travis County Emergency Services spokesman. Emergency officials said police ordered them to wait until the area was secure.
A preliminary autopsy listed blunt force trauma as the cause of death.
An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people were in the area for a city-sponsored festival for Juneteenth, which commemorates Texas slaves getting the word that they had been freed.
Several hundred people had filled the parking lot and street as the daylong festival at a nearby park ended and spilled over into the surrounding neighborhoods, said Katherine White, a Morales family friend who lives in a townhouse next door to where the beating took place.
Police said the injured child was a girl, but White said it was a boy with long hair he wears in ponytails.
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crazyks (anonymous) says…
The irony in all this is that the child is fine. He received treatment at a hospital and was released.
From what I saw on TV, and they interviewed the police chief there, the nearby celebration had nothing to do with the incident. It was several blocks away. People just started gravitating toward the area AFTER the accident occurred.
I don't know why the crowd was so upset to begin with. It's not like the driver was trying to leave the scene of the accident. He stopped and got out of the car. Unlike some drivers in KC recently.
I saw a picture of the man killed on TV. Do you suppose this had anything to do with him being Hispanic, and this happening in TX?
I wish them luck on finding witnesses willing to come forward. Usually in cases like this, if anyone talks at all, they always point fingers at everyone else.
jonas (anonymous) says…
A college town in Texas? Probably just looking for someone to plug that particular night.
bearded_gnome (anonymous) says…
"I don't know why the crowd was so upset to begin with. It's not like the driver was trying to leave the scene of the accident. He stopped and got out of
the car. Unlike some drivers in KC recently.
"
there is increasing distrust and doubt regarding our legal system, and permissive attitudes by the ruling elite feed that too. thus, vigilantee justice becomes more attractive when there seems no certainty the justice system will function properly. twice in our local area americans have been killed on the road by illegal immigrant drunk drivers in the past two years here in KS. his being hispanic may have caused some to think him an illegal immigrant, whether he was or not. justice through the system needs to be restored to something americans can have faith in.
Ohyasee (anonymous) says…
It's a shame that ppl out enjoying a celebration and one thing goes wrong and everyone is ready to attack. It feels so good to be an american.:(~~ I hope they get the ppl that did this to a Friend, Son, Uncle, Brother,ect...
erod0723 (anonymous) says…
I've had some friends from Texas tell me that Lawrence is a lame version of Austin. If that's the case, then I suppose I will take it, because I don't see this sort of thing happening in Lawrence. Maybe a mob smoking a guy out.