Driver sought in hit-and-run that killed Garland teen

A Garland family is mourning after their loved one, a recent high school graduate, was killed this week by a hit-and-run driver. It happened Monday in rural Northeast Texas where the 17-year-old was visiting for a graduation party.

GARLAND, Texas - A Garland family is mourning after their loved one, a recent high school graduate, was killed this week by a hit-and-run driver.

It happened Monday in rural Northeast Texas where 17-year-old Noah Cavazos was visiting for a graduation party.

Authorities don't have a suspect, and Noah's family is pleading for answers.

17-year-old Noah loved to skateboard, but not as much as he loved spending time with his older sister, Karina Cortez.

"He’d take me to skate parks, hold my hand over some of the big stuff I was scared to do and have me there for hours going again and again until I got comfortable and celebrate whenever I was able to go down by myself, some of the bigger ramps," she said.

Sadly, there will be no more trips to skate parks together.

"My heart is in a really hard place just trying to understand why such an amazing person and my brother, in particular, was taken away from us," Cortez said.

The Garland teen was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while walking near a farm to market road in Delta County south of Paris early Monday morning.

Noah’s grandmother, Martha Hernandez, and her husband raised Noah and his sister. She recalls an officer knocking on her door later that day.

"I saw him, and the first thing I thought was, ‘Oh, no. Noah’s in trouble,’" Hernandez recalled.

The Delta County Sheriff’s Office says vehicle parts found at the scene reveal it to have been a Nissan Altima between the years 2001 and 2005. It released a stock image in hopes of someone coming forward with information.

Noah was in Delta County for a friend’s graduation party. His family says they do not know why he was walking near the rural road.

"We don’t know exactly why," Hernandez said.

They say they forgive whoever is responsible. They just want answers.

"Because all we can do is think and make up theories of how, why," Cortez said.

Noah’s sister says growing up their parents were mostly absent. So even as extended family raised them, the two always looked after each other. Now, Noah’s sister believes he’s still watching over her just from above.

"He was extremely close to God and his faith so, so strong," Cortez said. "And he would tell me like, ‘Karina, how’s your relationship with God?’"