Austin Boy Dies a Week After Car Wreck

One of 8-year-old Frederick Crawford's favorite pastimes was going to check out movies and books from the University Hills Branch of the Austin Public Library on Loyola Lane, a few blocks from his father's East Austin home.

Hurrying to the library June 25, the boy was hit by a car while crossing the 6800 block of Manor Road at Rockhurst Lane. He died Friday night at Dell Children's Medical Center.

Freddie, as he was known, would have been a third-grader this fall at Harris Elementary School, said his father, Tony Crawford. He had eight sisters, a brother and two half-brothers.

Before he was hit, the family had just come home from Dottie Jordan Park and some of his sisters had returned from summer school.

"It was just too hot to do anything," Tony Crawford said. "They liked to go to the library to use computers or (check out) books and movies."

After leaving the house, Freddie and four of his sisters crossed two lanes of Manor Road at Rockhurst. They reached a traffic island in the middle of the road, but Freddie continued to run, crossing the road's two remaining lanes, where he was hit by a car, his father said.

Austin police Cpl. Scott Perry said Saturday that the incident was under investigation.

Tony Crawford said that children in the neighborhood often cross Manor Road at Rockhurst Lane near his home to get to a shopping center. He said he is concerned about other children because there is no stoplight or crosswalk at the intersection; he would like a crosswalk and yellow lights put on the road.

"They can cross at both lights (north and south of the intersection), but most of the kids, they don't go to the light," Crawford said. "They try to cross in the middle of the road to get to the H-E-B side."

Freddie's mother, Stephanie White, said Freddie was an energetic child.

White said Freddie lived with her, but often visited his father and siblings.

"He was so outgoing and was always laughing or smiling," White said. "He also liked to draw and watch cartoons."

Crawford said his son liked to run and was generally a happy person.

"I just hate that he left early at a young age," Crawford said. "If you'd have known him and seen the way his eyes looked at you, you'd fall in love with him."