Collision on I-10 bridge flips car, kills 4 year old child

OFFICERS at the lower edge of this aerial photo peer down at the overturned sedan car that fell through the space between the highway lanes on the I-10 bridge over the San Jacinto River. The car collided with the red truck in the photo, as they merged into the same lane, flipped and fell. The car had 3 family members inside, and the 4 year old girl was crushed under the overturned auto. (photo KPRC)
OFFICERS at the lower edge of this aerial photo peer down at the overturned sedan car that fell through the space between the highway lanes on the I-10 bridge over the San Jacinto River. The car collided with the red truck in the photo, as they merged into the same lane, flipped and fell. The car had 3 family members inside, and the 4 year old girl was crushed under the overturned auto. (photo KPRC)

EAST HARRIS COUNTY – A tragic accident on the I-10 bridge over the San Jacinto River, between Channelview and Highlands, took the life of a 4- year-old girl and critically injured her father.

The accident occurred Wednesday morning, about 7:00 am according to authorities, when a semi truck and a sedan collided in a westbound lane.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez indicated the accident may have occurred when the semi tried to merge into the lane with the auto. Prosecutor Sean Teare, of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, said the truck swerved when a vehicle in front of the semi made an abrupt stop. Teare said that “this is just one of those convergence of events that ended in a horrible tragedy. Anybody who has driven in Houston knows that it happens all the time.”

Sheriff’s Sgt. Eduardo Rivera said the family was on its way home after working overnight. The father was identified as Jorge Alejandro Bonilla, 35, and the mother as Carmen Madrid, 24. Both are recent immigrants from Honduras, and both were wearing seatbelts. However, the child Bridgett Bonilla, 4, was not restrained in a child’s seat, he said. Deputies and paramedics found her crushed under the car, and pronounced her dead.

The truck driver stayed at the scene, and to date no charges have been filed in this accident.