Family Of East Side Hit-And-Run Victim Opens Up To ABC-7

Keith Gattis remembers the most terrible phone call his mother Lois has ever taken.

“All of a sudden I just heard her scream and I come running up the stairs and she’s just in tears, she threw the phone down,” he said.

Gattis’ mother had just been told her 29-year-old son Brian was killed in an east El Paso hit-and-run.

“I literally felt a sinking feeling in my stomach when I heard the news,” said Keith.

Police said Rene Chacon, 21, was behind the wheel on Friday at about 2 a.m. when Brian was killed crossing the street at the intersection of Lee Trevino and Gateway East.

According to the complaint affidavit, Chacon’s girlfriend drove up to the scene and told a police officer her boyfriend was driving the car that hit Brian.

Documents state she told the officer Chacon had called her and told her about the crash.

“I do thank Rene Chacon’s girlfriend for coming forward for giving not only me but my mother the closure that she needs,” said Gattis.

The department’s Special Traffic Investigations Unit responded and determined that Brian was crossing Lee Trevino when he was struck by a 1995 Honda Accord which was traveling north on Lee Trevino. The driver of the Honda Accord, Chacon, allegedly fled the scene and abandoned the vehicle in a parking lot located in the 1400 block of Lee Trevino.

The Honda Accord’s windshield was completely smashed in. “I’m thinking my brother must have hit that glass pretty hard. It’s all safety glass,” said Gattis.

Chacon was booked on one count of Accident Involving Personal Injury or Death, as well as several outstanding traffic warrants. Chacon’s bond totaled: $36,873.

Brian was killed as he was walking home from his job. He often wrote about those late night walks on his Facebook page.

“Brian was always nervous walking at night because of drunk drivers,” said Keith Gattis.

Now Gattis and his family will have to move on with their memories of Brian.

“You can’t replace a child,” said Lois Gattis.