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Willow Glen Drive doesn\u2019t have sidewalks, so kids with bikes have to ride in the street. Credit: April Towery<\/p>\nFamily members of 7-year-old Nico Castillon have been grieving privately since the boy was struck and killed by a Ford F-450 pickup truck while riding his bicycle in a sleepy southeast Houston neighborhood on Thanksgiving Day.\u00a0Neighbors, however, are looking for someone to blame and a solution to ensure such a tragedy doesn\u2019t occur again. <\/p>\n
Several relatives, including the organizer of a GoFundMe account that has raised more than $16,000 for funeral expenses, did not respond to repeated requests for comment Monday and Tuesday. No information about a memorial service has been released.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silence of Nico\u2019s parents Ashley and Tyriq Castillon can possibly be attributed to the fact that they just lost a child, but may also have something to do with the scrutiny coming from keyboard warriors looking to hold someone accountable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hundreds of comments on a social media post by a Houston television station offered thoughts and prayers, but many questioned whether a child should have been riding his bike unsupervised. Still others pointed a finger at the senior driver of the pickup truck, saying he was too old to be behind the wheel of such a big rig.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis could have been prevented,\u201d one Facebook user wrote. \u201cRIP to the little man.\u201d <\/p>\n
Nico lived in the South Park neighborhood about five miles from William P. Hobby Airport. The streets are narrow and, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, they were filled with debris and overloaded trash cans. A few cracked sidewalks exist sporadically throughout the neighborhood but there are no bike lanes or unobstructed paths for cyclists on Willow Glen Drive near Herschelwood, where Nico was biking last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Willow Glen Drive doesn\u2019t have sidewalks, so kids with bikes have to ride in the street. Credit: April Towery<\/p>\n
Houston Police Department spokesman Shay Awosiyan said a 70-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was driving a Ford F-450 near 5200 Willow Glen around 11:35 a.m. on November 27.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The driver stopped at a stop sign at the intersection of Willow Glen and Herschelwood, and as he proceeded westbound, he heard \u201csomething that was being dragged under the undercarriage of his vehicle,\u201d Awosiyan said. \u201cHe stopped and inspected his vehicle and noticed a small bicycle in the front of his vehicle. He looked back and saw a child lying in the roadway.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c[Houston Fire Department] responded and sadly, the child was pronounced dead at the scene,\u201d the police spokesman said. \u201cThe driver was evaluated and found not to be impaired. Right now, it\u2019s an ongoing investigation. No charges have been filed at this time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under Texas regulations it is not against the law to ride a bike on a sidewalk unless a local government has established restrictions. In Houston, cyclists are prohibited from riding on sidewalks in a business district, which Willow Glen Drive, to all appearances, is not. <\/p>\n
Chloe Combs, who identified herself as the sister of Nico\u2019s father Tyriq, set up a GoFundMe<\/a> account to help with funeral expenses, \u201ctime away from work and the costs that come with trying to hold life together after a devastating loss.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNico was riding his bike when he was suddenly and tragically struck and killed,\u201d Combs wrote on the fundraiser webpage. \u201cHis loss has left our entire family heartbroken and in shock. His smile, his humor, and his gentle heart touched so many people in just seven short years.\u201d<\/p>\n A Houston ISD spokesman said Tuesday he could not confirm whether Nico was enrolled in in a district school, saying \u201cThe district cannot provide or confirm student information.\u201d <\/p>\n The area where Nico\u2019s family lives doesn\u2019t appear to be heavily trafficked. Most intersections have four-way stops, and it\u2019s not uncommon for unleashed dogs to run around or children to play outside when the weather is nice. A tragedy such as the one that occurred on Thanksgiving could, however, prompt elected officials to revisit the need for infrastructure in the area, said a staffer for Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who represents the area. <\/p>\n Ellis has been a champion for equity<\/a>: ensuring that historically underserved communities have the same amenities as wealthy neighborhoods. Current projects listed in the commissioner\u2019s sidewalk program include upgrades to West Mount Houston<\/a>, Ella Boulevard and Airline Drive.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough we live in a car-centric community, many people depend on safe sidewalks to help them get around.\u00a0 We have all experienced the frustration and even danger of broken, disconnected sidewalks that are too common in neighborhoods,\u201d Ellis said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cSafe, wide sidewalks can help connect neighborhoods, provide pathways to opportunity, and expand access to healthy, active transportation.\u201d<\/p>\n A March 2024 study<\/a> by the Rice University Institute for Public Policy found that there were 629 traffic incidents in Houston between 2018 and 2023 involving children who were walking or biking. Of those, 21 resulted in death and 159 resulted in serious injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n Most of the incidents occurred in neighborhoods that lack safe infrastructure like sidewalks, crosswalks or protected bike lanes, according to the report.\u00a0<\/p>\n Three hotspots were identified in the study: two in southwest Houston along the Interstate 59 and Westpark Tollway corridors and one in Sunnyside. Within those clusters, the areas particularly dangerous for children include Alief\u2019s Beechnut Street near Wilcrest Drive; Glenmont from Renwick to Royalton in Gulfton; the Sunnyside Square Mile; and Hillcroft Avenue in Gulfton.\u00a0<\/p>\n Houston Public Works has a program through which residents can apply<\/a> for the construction of new sidewalks along streets leading to schools and near major thoroughfares, with a focus on improving accessibility for people with disabilities. <\/p>\n Steven David, chief strategy and operations officer for Mayor John Whitmire, acknowledged that the application process puts disorganized neighborhoods with a heavy renter population at a disadvantage.<\/p>\n The current sidewalk program is \u201creactive not proactive, meaning you\u2019ve got to apply,\u201d David said. \u201cThat\u2019s the challenge. How, in an apartment complex where there isn\u2019t an HOA, do they figure it out? It\u2019s a very valid concern. It\u2019s one of the concerns that the mayor holds. As of right now, we have about 2,200 road miles with no sidewalks throughout the city of Houston.\u201d<\/p>\n The program does not fund sidewalk repairs because, according to city documents<\/a>, property owners of the adjoining sidewalk are responsible for maintenance.<\/p>\n David said when Whitmire was elected in December 2023, there was no cohesive dataset to show where sidewalks are, \u201cand that prevented us from inverting it to show where sidewalks are not.\u201d That information is now being gathered and an announcement about a comprehensive sidewalk plan is forthcoming, possibly at the mayor\u2019s State of the City address in February. <\/p>\n Developers of new subdivisions are required to build sidewalks in most cases or pay a \u201cfee in lieu<\/a>\u201d of $12 per square foot, based on the size of the sidewalk that would have been required. The collected fees go into a fund for sidewalks to be built elsewhere in the city. Funding for sidewalks can also come from a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone or council member district funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n The fee-in-lieu fund currently has about $2 million. The city\u2019s sidewalk needs total at least $1.1 billion, David said. <\/p>\n Houston\u2019s sidewalk fee-in-lieu became effective<\/a> in March 2023. Prior to that, the city had an ordinance since the 1990s requiring sidewalks for new development, but exemptions and modifications were routinely granted.<\/p>\n Kevin Strickland, cofounder of Walk and Roll Houston<\/a>, has been vocal in his opposition to waiving the sidewalk requirement for new development. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/No-sidewalks.jpg\")
Willow Glen Drive doesn\u2019t have sidewalks, so kids with bikes have to ride in the street. Credit: April Towery<\/p>\n