Antoinette Johnson was preparing to take her 17-year-old son on a college tour—a milestone and an auspicious occasion she was proud of. But early Thursday morning, those plans were cut short on a dark stretch of Almeda Road in southwest Houston.
That’s where the 35-year-old woman was thrown from the back of a speeding truck and run over by another vehicle. Neither driver stopped.
A witness told ABC-affiliate KTRK that he left The Red Rooster club around the same time as Johnson and recalled seeing her possibly dancing in the bed of a fast-moving pickup truck with a group of people in the cab. The vehicle, heading northbound on Almeda Road near Holmes around 1:30 a.m., was reportedly speeding, and another woman in the group was “twerking out the window,” he claimed.
Moments later, the witness said he saw Johnson fall from the truck.
Johnson was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead.
Houston police said both the truck and the second vehicle, described as a dark-colored SUV, fled the scene. Officers are now searching for both drivers, saying neither stopped to help or render aid.
The stretch of Almeda Road where Johnson fell has little lighting, and the witness said had he and a friend not pulled over to divert traffic, more cars might have run over her body.
On Instagram, another purported witness came forward about the tragedy.
“You saw that woman fall out of your car and you did not stop or turn around,” the person wrote in the post. “Within 2 minutes of her falling out of that car another car sped down the street and ran the woman over, leaving her lifeless and in pieces.”
The post from the witness claimed the truck had been going about 100 mph and that the woman had no phone or ID when her body was recovered, but none of these claims were confirmed by officials. The post described the incident as a cautionary tale.
“Couple of seconds it would’ve took you to stop that car, you probably could’ve saved that girl’s life.”
Johnson’s family identified her and said she was a devoted mother with a bright future ahead. “She leaves behind a teen son, and we’re heartbroken,” a family member told ABC13.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the HPD Hit and Run Unit at 713-247-4065 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 713-222-TIPS.
