Woman Goes For Ride

By Karla Barguiarena

It’s unlikely Gerald Mayfield will ever forget what he witnessed just a few feet from his home near Baytown Saturday night.

Mayfield witnessed a suspicious white tow truck parked near his mobile home as if it was staking out the neighborhood.

Minutes later, he heard his neighbor screaming.

“I heard her screaming no, no, just screaming at the top of her lungs and they turned the corner there I mean just as fast as can be,” Mayfield said.

It was unclear exactly how the accident happened, but that woman somehow became caught on her car or the wrecker and dragged for several yards.



The woman noticed the wrecker towing her car away from her trailer and went after it.

Harris County sheriff’s investigators say the woman suffered severe head injuries and died at Methodist San Jacinto Hospital.

They are working to determine if the wrecker driver was stealing the woman’s car or if he was repossessing it.

However, no order to relinquish the car was ever filed with the county, a requirement for repossession.

“Cruel. She didn’t deserve it. She wasn’t that type of person,” friend Karen Wolfe said.

Wolfe said the victim was one of the few friends she could count on.

As she helped investigators gather the victim’s two beloved dogs, Wolfe said she hopes the driver either turns himself in or “finds a heart.”

The latter may be the only way to learn who was behind the wheel of the truck, since no one can identify him.

“I wish I would’ve looked at some markers on the vehicle, but I didn’t. I didn’t notice any,” Mayfield said.

Authorities were withholding the woman’s identity pending notification of family members.

No description of the wrecker or the suspect has been released.