Questions surround the death of a 14-year-old boy with autism who was running across the Patriot Freeway when he was fatally struck by an SUV in Northeast El Paso this week.
Joseph Nathaniel Caraballo ended up on the U.S. 54 highway on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 23, after allegedly running away from his high school — a behavior, known as elopement, by some children with autism spectrum disorder in which they wander away or bolt from a safe location or caregiver.
“Joseph was autistic, full of light, and had a heart that touched everyone who knew him. His laughter and unique spirit brought so much joy to our family and friends,” his family posted on a GoFundMe page set up for funeral expenses.
A family member of the teen posted on social media that he was a student at Austin High School, which is about two miles from where the fatal freeway collision occurred.
Caraballo’s family in an interview with Channel 9-KTSM questioned why school staff didn’t properly supervise Caraballo and prevent him from running off after discussing a safety plan after he previously ran away from school on two other occassions, once being missing for seven hours.
Autistic boy killed on Patriot Freeway was EPISD student
The El Paso Independent School District, in a brief emailed statement, confirmed Caraballo was one of its students, but the district did not address questions about what school he attended or the incident.
“The El Paso ISD family is in mourning, and we have counseling and support services available for our students and staff,” read a statement emailed by Ernie Chacon, the district’s media relations coordinator. “We are working closely with El Paso PD, who are the investigative authority on the incident. We request that everyone be respectful of the family and those impacted and please keep them in your prayers.”
El Paso police: Driver unable to avoid hitting boy on freeway
The fatal pedestrian collision occurred about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 23, on U.S. 54 near Spur 601 and Fred Wilson Avenue, stated an El Paso Police Department news release issued by Officer Adrian Cisneros.
The preliminary investigation found that Caraballo was seen running west across the northbound lanes of the freeway before crossing the center barrier and then began running north on the southbound lanes into the path of a 2024 Toyota 4Runner, police reported.
The driver, April Dawn Azevedo, 49, of Chaparral, New Mexico, “attempted to avoid the collision, but was unable to do so,” police stated. Several witnesses stopped to help the mortally injured teen, who was transported by paramedics to a hospital, where he died.
Caraballo’s mother, Evette Ortiz, told KTSM that she was thankful for all the people who stopped to try to help her son and that she didn’t fault the driver who tried to avoid the crash, but was unable to do so.
The case was the 44th traffic-related death in El Paso this year compared with 49 at the same time last year, according to police department numbers.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Questions follow death of autistic El Paso ISD student crossing freeway after leaving school
Reporting by Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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