Dad of 6 fatally struck as wife watched him help stranded motorist, Texas reports say
A dad of six was fatally struck crossing the freeway in Texas, officials and family members say.
Houston deputies said Phillips Gardner was hit and killed just before 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14, as he tried to run cross Interstate 45 North.
A deputy was already at the scene responding to a tow and go call, the sheriff’s office said in a report. Upon arrival, the deputy found two cars stopped in the shoulder of the road.
Tegan Gardner and her husband, Phillips Gardner, had been driving home from their nephew’s birthday party when they learned that her mother’s car had stalled on the side of the road, according to the Houston Chronicle. The couple stopped to help.
Tegan Gardner told the deputy that her husband had jumped over the concrete barrier wall and crossed the freeway to go to a Shell gas station, the report said.
As the deputy spoke with Tegan Gardner, Phillips Gardner tried to walk back across the freeway to his wife but didn’t stop for oncoming traffic and was struck by a black 2019 Chevrolet Malibu, according to the sheriff’s office. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Deputies said the driver who struck Gardner remained on the scene and did not appear to be intoxicated.
Tegan Gardner said she and her husband have six children, according to an interview with KHOU.
“Now my children don’t have their dad no more,” she said. “They’re going to be without their dad.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2023 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Dad of 6 fatally struck as wife watched him help stranded motorist, Texas reports say."
