Mother of 8 dies when son drives van into dentist's office
07:30 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 11, 2006
From 11 News staff reports
Jeremy Desel's 11 News report
Students at the Humble Christian School are caring for their classmates and coach after his wife was killed in a tragic accident.
The flags at the school fly at half mast out of respect for Lisa Lewis, the wife of a P.E. teacher at the school, who was known to most everyone there.
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Crash scene
“She was a very outgoing, joyful, just bubbly woman. You know, with seven or eight kids, you gotta be pretty bubbly to survive the day,” said school administrator Ted Howell.
The mother of eight was killed Tuesday when her 12-year-old son drove their van through the glass wall of a Monarch dental office in Humble.
Two others were critically injured.
“I heard a scream. There was a scream. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was kind of surreal,” said witness Mark Rabinovitch. “I was just looking over here and the next thing I knew, I just saw this van go straight and I didn’t realize it was going through a wall.”
Humble police said Lewis waited near the building while her 17-year-old and 12-year-old sat in the van. She motioned to her boys to pull the van closer because of the rain. The younger child was behind the wheel and, according to police, accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake.
“The 17-year-old’s telling us that, in fact, his brother did drive the vehicle and he assisted him when he showed him how to shift the gears and ease over and said it was an accident when he hit the accelerator instead of the brakes,” said Sgt. Ken Theis, Humble police department.
Another victim, Sesha Barefield, waited with her patient. She spoke to 11 News by phone from her hospital room Wednesday. She said the van appeared to be stopping at the curb, but then it just “smashed on the gas. “All I could see was the grill coming at us. We were pushed 25 feet into the building,” she said.
“Looking at her, the next thing she sees her saying, ‘no,’ then the next thing she knows she’s just being pushed,” Barefield’s sister-in-law Tina Thomas said.
The van plowed through the front of the dental office.
Once inside the office, the ceiling collapsed on them.
Barefield told her sister-in-law she was trapped under another victim.
“And she said she kinda remembered hearing, ‘mommy no, I’m sorry,’ and then she hears, ‘where’s Loretta?” Thomas said.
Fellow employee Loretta Henderson was also critically injured.
“It’s very difficult to comprehend, you know that they were there, they were a part of it, they saw it. One of the things they have to remember is the last view they saw of their mom. So that’s ever present on their mind and it will take time,” said Howell.
Accident investigators believe Lewis may have thought her 17-year-old was in the driver’s seat, but he wasn’t.
Police said the child must have panicked and hit the accelerator instead of the brakes. They don’t know why the younger child was behind the wheel in the first place.
KHOU
The van's windshield was covered with debris from inside the office.
“We’re trying to put the dots together on this one is that older brother was asked to move the van, little brother said ‘Hey, it’s not that far, I can do it, I can do it’ and older brother said, “Go ahead,” and it was unfortunate and definitely an accident when he hit the accelerator when he approached the building,” said Scroggins.
Lewis was pronounced dead about an hour later, at around 2 p.m. The two others who were injured are employees of the dental office and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Both were admitted to Northeast Medical Center.
Barefield, 30 was being treated for a concussion and evaluated for a broken hip and possible spinal injuries. Henderson, 43, is also suffering from a concussion and a massive cut from her knee to her heel that will require surgery.
From her hospital bed, Barefield can’t place blame. She can only forgive and pray for the Lewis family.
“Her heart goes out to them, you know, and she knows that he’s gonna have to live with that for the rest of his life,” Thomas said.
Lewis and her husband ran the Call To Glory Dance Studio for years in Humble and are now involved with another dance studio. Jeff Lewis, her husband, is a dancer and is abroad in Israel.
We were told he had been notified of the accident and is seeking emergency transportation back to the states.
The Lewises have eight children. The two who were involved in the accident will be staying with a grandmother and an aunt.
Five of the eight children attend the school, which has set up a fund to help the family.
Humble police said they would be forwarding all information about the case to the Harris County District Attorney’s office. It would be their decision if any charges would be filed against the 12-year-old.
