Mom, 5-year-old daughter ejected, killed in ‘violent’ East Harris County crash

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A mother and her 5-year-old daughter are dead after being ejected from their car during a violent crash in East Harris County on Easter Sunday.

The accident happened on US 90 near Uvalde Road around 1:45 p.m. on Sunday.

A family of five was driving eastbound in their gold Toyota Prius when they lost control while exiting the highway, causing the small car to flip several times in a grassy median.

“One witness stated that they estimated they were possibly going around 80-85 mph as they were exiting the freeway,” said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. “At some point, maybe, as they began losing control of the vehicle, perhaps they overcorrected causing them to leave the roadway, leaving a long trail into the grassy area.”

Inside the vehicle was a young couple, according to Sheriff Gonzalez. A 26-year-old man and 25-year-old woman were in the front, but not wearing a seatbelt.

In the backseat were three kids; a 5-year-old girl, a 2-and-a-half-year-old boy, and a 2-month-old girl. All of the children were wearing seatbelts.

The mother, later identified by the Sheriff on social media as Tiffany Rodriguez, and 5-year-old, Ariella, were both ejected from the vehicle, flown to the hospital, and pronounced dead.

“The remaining three, including the adult male, were transported by ambulance,” Gonzalez said. “It’s our understanding that while they were all injured, they are expected to survive their injuries.”

According to preliminary information from investigators, it appears the family may have been going to celebrate Easter.

“It appears that there was some new clothes that they were perhaps going to be wearing today at some point and even some eggs that they were going to be enjoying the day,” the sheriff said.

This is the latest accident in what’s been a violent and deadly weekend across Harris County.

“It’s really tragic when we think of what a deadly weekend it’s been around our county, and not only in terms of murders, but also roadway deaths as well,” Sheriff Gonzalez said. “It’s very tragic, especially on such a special day. It breaks my heart coming to some of these scenes and and seeing the small shoes of a toddler especially being a parent. that always hits home.”

According to Sheriff Gonzalez, this crash marks the 45th fatal accident on unincorporated Harris County roads.

“I want to be very clear that these crashes are all preventable. They really are,” Sheriff Gonzalez said. “We’re talking about speed. At times, we talk about impairment. We’ve got to be paying closer attention to what we’re doing because if not we’re going to continue to see more carnage on our roadways.”

While the investigation is early, it appears speed is a factor in the crash. It’s unclear who was driving at the time of the accident.

The investigation remains ongoing.