IRVING, Texas — The mother of a young woman who was killed earlier this month when a man drove off with her on top of his car, is sharing a message of regret — telling WFAA that she wished she was more involved in her daughter’s life.
On Oct. 2, Irving Police say 22-year-old April Vera was killed when Xaziver Deshun Williams drove onto Loop 12 with her on top of his car. At some point, investigators say Vera fell off and was struck by the car and killed.
Vera was staying at a motel off Loop 12, and after reviewing surveillance footage—investigators say Williams visited Vera and then stole a backpack from her.
When Vera went out to confront Williams in the parking lot, she jumped on his car while driving away. Williams was arrested almost two weeks later and was charged with murder.
Vera’s death hit her mother, Christina Fraley-Hernandez, like a ton of bricks.
“There were just so many things that could have prevented this from happening,” Fraley-Hernandez said.
“Everyone says, ‘that would never happen to my family.’ You don’t know,” she said while holding back tears.
Fraley-Hernandez said that she was close with her daughter. Vera recently became a mom, and not a day went by when the two didn’t text.
“Every day. At least once, if not 20 times,” Fraley-Hernandez said.
But Fraley-Hernandez is learning that her daughter may have been hiding something from her. She says Vera was living at the motel with her boyfriend until they could find a permanent place to live.
Irving Police believe while Vera’s boyfriend was gone, Williams arrived to pay her for sex.
“I would have never ever thought that April would hide anything from me,” Fraley-Hernandez said. “Of all my children, I never thought it.”
Now, Fraley-Hernandez wonders if she was closer with her daughter — could it have prevented her death?
“I regret not forcing her to live here with me,” she said. “I regret not telling her, ‘sorry, but you’re going to stay with me.’”
“Nobody deserves to die that way, nobody. She was left there like a piece of trash.”
Fraley-Hernandez only has one heart-wrenching warning for mothers.
“If you feel in your heart that your child may be straying the wrong way, then, by all means, step in,” she said.
“Don’t let something like this happen to your family.”