A carjacker who severely wounded a great-grandmother has died in a car crash shortly after stealing her vehicle.
According to The Police Tribune, 71-year-old San Antonian Shirlene Hernandez was going about her usual routine of picking up a Diet Coke from a petrol station when the thief approached her.
The man hit her in the face several times and ripped the keys from her hands, before driving off with her car.
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Following the carjacking, police found the car on the interstate highway, but it was totalled. The suspected carjacker's body was found inside.
Hernandez, who was left severely injured after the incident, told KABB: “There’s a lot of people who would say what goes around comes around, karma. I did not think that; the only thing I got (was) really sad because he had died.
“Now granted, he had hurt me, but the Lord saw fit to take him out of his misery.”
She hopes her story will urge good Samaritans to step forward and help out whenever they see trouble unfold.
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“I just hope that if this situation happens to anybody else, that somebody will step forward, leap forward, run forward, whatever and help the person that it’s happening to,” she said.
Despite being shaken by the experience, the great-grandmother isn’t letting the crime shape her life as she continues to work while saving for another car.
“I realised – I don’t have a car,” she said. “I just don’t want to quit working and so I’ve got to somehow get another car and that takes money and stuff. I’ve got to figure out what to do.”
A GoFundMe has been launched by her granddaughter to help her purchase a vehicle so she could get to ‘work or appointments’.
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It read: “Hi, my name is Helen, and I am helping my 71-year-old grandma Shirlene. On April 12th, she was carjacked from a Shell station in San Antonio on her way to work. The man who took her car hit her with the door, badly bruising her face.
“The man wrecked her car and totaled it, leaving her without a way to get to work or appointments. Any donation helps get her back on her feet and is greatly appreciated.”
More than 500 donations have poured in, surpassing the initial goal of US $5,000 with over $20,000 worth of funds raised so far.
Looks like Mrs Hernandez might even be on her way to indulging in a Bentley.
Charisa Bossinakis