Jacob Lewis and his older sister have been coming back from a Friday evening live performance by way of Taylor Swift held at NRG Stadium when their automotive broke down at the shoulder of Interstate 69 close to Shepherd Drive. Despite the most obvious risks, Lewis were given out to lend a hand push the automobile to protection when he used to be hit by way of a suspected inebriated driving force early on Saturday morning.
“Jacob died instantly,” his father, Steve Lewis, introduced on Facebook.
Thankfully, Jacob’s older sister most effective had minor bruises and scrapes after the crash, in step with Steve.
A GoFundMe web page has been created to supply beef up to Jacob’s circle of relatives within the wake of his dying. After simply sooner or later, the fundraiser had already amassed over $108,000 in donations. Many of those donations have been possibly given by way of different Taylor Swift enthusiasts – the quantity 13 is common amongst them because of being thought to be Swift’s favourite quantity.
Although the vast majority of donations have been within the quantity of $13, greater than 7,000 person donations to the Lewis circle of relatives have been gained, together with many different quantities.
“Jacob left this world much too early,” wrote Steve.
Jacob had determined to take a 12 months off from college to paintings full-time for a 12 months, however used to be about to start his sophomore 12 months at Sam Houston State University within the fall. He had already excelled in musical theater, choir, and dance throughout his highschool years and confirmed immense promise.
“He had already excelled at theater, choir and dance during his high school years, and we looked forward to new exciting adventures and successes to come,” his father wrote.
Jacob used to be his research, buddies, and spare time activities, which incorporated video video games, studying, and making track, in addition to being attentive to it. He additionally liked Pokémon and had certified for the Pokémon World Championships thrice, in step with his father.
Alan Hayes, 34, is the suspected inebriated driving force who hit Jacob, and he has been charged with riding whilst intoxicated and failing to prevent and render support after allegedly fleeing the scene. Houston police discovered Hayes after a bystander gave chase, resulting in an eventual foot chase and his eventual arrest. Court information display that Hayes had in the past pleaded in charge to forcing whilst intoxicated, in Harris County in 2014 and Brazoria County in 2018.
“Jacob will be remembered as a loving and faithful young man who was loyal to his family and friends,” wrote Steve. “His last act was to push his sister to safety on a dark street. There is no way to describe the magnitude of this loss and the emptiness left in our hearts.”
Jhair Romero contributed to this file.