Dallas LGBTQ+ advocate Joey Angel Avila was killed Thursday, April 16, in an accident in East Dallas caused by a driver fleeing in a stolen vehicle after a car-jacking. The accident happened shortly after 5 p.m. on North Collett Avenue near the Swiss Avenue intersection.
Avila’s niece, Erica Avila, has started a GoFundMe page to help pay funeral expenses and to “support our family during this time.”
The GoFundMe notes that the family will be sharing details of his funeral services soon.
Tyrell Jones, 25, has been arrested and charged with robbery and murder in connection with the fatal accident.
According to NBCDFW Channel 5, Jones was seen “running through the street around 5:20 p.m.” before stumbling and falling in the middle of the road. When a woman driving a Kia Sorrento stopped to see if he was ok, Fox 4 News reports, Jones jumped through the car window, pushed the woman out of the car and sped off.
Just blocks away, news reports say, the stolen Kia, with Jones at the wheel, crashed into another vehicle at a stop sign. The collision forced both cars through the stop sign and onto the sidewalk where Avila, who had been walking past, was hit and pinned between the crashed cars and a tree.
Avila was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Jones, who witnesses said appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or some other substance, was also treated at a nearby hospital before being booked into the Dallas County Jail. He remained listed as an inmate there as of 4:30 p.m. Sunday, April 19. No bond had been set.
— Tammye Nash