HOUSTON — Eric Ospina says his family is doing its best in the face of unthinkable sadness.
"You know, coping, and making sure we’re all moving forward," Ospina said.
But moving forward without 23-year-old Mayra Ospina in the mix is unimaginable.
The family has been at her bedside at Ben Taub Hospital where she was declared brain dead Wednesday morning.
"She twitched a little bit yesterday, and that gave me parents a sense of hope," Eric Ospina said. "But we know what's coming."
Mayra and her boyfriend, Luis Ramirez, were both run over early Monday morning on the side of Barker Cypress Road.
They, along with two other good Samaritans, had stopped to check on a wrecked car they saw in a ditch.
That’s when a suspected drunk driver slammed into them with his pickup truck. Three of the pedestrians were hurt. Mayra Ospina suffered the most critical injuries.
“I think she was just there to help somebody, you know," Eric Ospina said about his sister. "She’s always been like that, always trying to help people, and she did not deserve to go out like this.”
Zachary Castro, 26, has been charged with two counts of intoxication assault and one count of intoxication manslaughter.
We spoke briefly with his attorney following a court appearance.
"In the U.S., a person is innocent until proven guilty," said attorney Eric Smith. "And we’re going to treat it as such.”
Castro was taken into custody after the crash, which he escaped uninjured.
"There’s no reason to drink and drive," Eric Ospina said. "There’s no reason at all.”
Eric Ospina and his sister, who are two of six siblings, recently got promotions and were planning to pay off their mother’s house.
He was glad they had one final visit last weekend.
"And just the day after we made those plans, that night, she was taken from us,” Eric Ospina said.
Mayra Ospina’s boyfriend, Luis Ramirez, remains in ICU at a hospital in Cypress.
A third man, who was less seriously injured, is still in the hospital.
There are GoFundMe pages set up for both Mayra and Ramirez:
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