FORT WORTH, Texas — Last Monday morning, a longtime, beloved Fort Worth Police Officer died on I-35W. Yesterday Monday morning, so did five more people, including 2 children.
They were two separate, high-profile cases. But both were caused, police say, by drunk drivers.
Leddy Harris’ sister, Alexis Mills and Alexis' boyfriend, Justin Dike, were all killed by a drunk driver in 2021, and so was their baby. Mills was 9 months pregnant at the time of the crash.
Doctors delivered and tried to save her baby boy, but he did not make it.
“It’s like I was reliving it all over again,” Harris said “It’s so, so different when you’re burying a kid.”
Monday morning’s crash hit and hurt Harris hardest she said, because yet again, kids were killed. But Monday’s crash was far from the only one.
Arrest records indicate in Tarrant County, this past weekend, Saturday night into Sunday morning, 34 people were arrested for DWI. Another 29 were arrested for DWI, according to records, last week.
“It’s horrifically, horrifically sad because this particular crime is 100% preventable,” Tarrant Bill Waybourn told WFAA. “Uber, get a friend, for God’s sake don’t get in a 3500-pound missile and go out and hurt somebody! And that’s what it is when you have an intoxicated driver it’s a missile.”
To make that point even clearer, Harris asked WFAA to show you something she's never shared before. She showed us her late nephew’s baby box, made by the nurses who delivered him, tried to save him and then had to watch him die.
The box includes his footprint, handprint, a piece of hair, his blanket and photos of him.
“If I could just stop one person, that’s the only reason why I do this,” she cried. “Because if it hits one person, and it stops them…then I’ve saved somebody.”