HOUSTON – A mother was killed when a tree fell on her during a backyard get-together in northeast Harris County.
Her family is struggling with how to break the news to one of her children.
The accident happened on Kenswick Drive near Stagewood Drive about 8 p.m. Sunday while a family gathered in the back yard. The eight people who were there said they heard something make a sound on the other side of their fence.
Jose Mata is the son and brother of the victims.
"I just heard the commotion. That's when I ran outside and I saw what happened," he said.
The woman was Mata's 54-year-old mother. She did not survive.
The tree also hit a 12-year-old girl. She was rushed to a hospital in critical condition.
The tree also hit the home. Deputies said it fell from a wooded area outside their fence.
Mata said he kneeled next to his mother underneath the tree, trying his best to comfort her still hoping she was alive.
"I kept on telling her everything was going to fine, but I don't think she was ever conscious," he said.
As Mata plans his mother funeral, his sister is recovering in the hospital with a skull fracture. Mata said he's still trying to find the right words to tell his little sister that their mother is gone.
A local tree expert, Louis Flory, said the drought from last year is making trees this year especially brittle. He also said this year he's been called out by customers to treat twice as many trees as usual because of last year's drought.