33-year-old pregnant woman hits an alligator on a Texas highway, killing her and her unborn child
- Gabrielle Breaux, 33, of New Iberia, Louisiana, was driving a Chevy Silverado pickup around 4 am Sunday through Texas with her father and three children.
- He struck a 12-foot alligator while traveling to Houston, 60 miles north of Corpus Christi.
- The van overturned, killing Breaux and her unborn child: her father and three children were injured but expected to survive
A pregnant Louisiana woman was killed and her family injured after the pickup truck she was driving collided with a 12-foot alligator and flipped multiple times in rural Texas.
Gabrielle Breaux, 33, was returning from Texas to her home in New Iberia, Louisiana, 20 miles south of Lafayette, when the accident occurred early Sunday morning.
The car wash employee was seven months pregnant and was accompanied by her father Gregory Gerard, 58, and their three children, ages 13, 11 and six.
Breaux was driving a Chevy Silverado pickup just before 4 a.m., 60 miles north of Corpus Christi, near the small town of Tivoli, when his pickup struck the alligator on the highway.
She and her unborn child died as a result of the accident.
Gabrielle Breaux, a 33-year-old car wash employee and mother of three, was seven months pregnant when she was killed Sunday.
The animal is seen lying on the road in a photo taken by Refugio County sheriffs.
Breaux’s Chevy Silverado collided with an alligator and skidded off the road, flipping over
Sgt. Rob Mallory of the Texas Department of Public Safety said the frail “struck an alligator that was crossing the road.”
The animal died and the truck skidded off the road, overturned and came to a stop upside down.
The five people inside the van were taken to the hospital.
Breaux was taken to DeTar Hospital in Victoria, 40 miles from the crash scene, where she succumbed to her injuries and died.
The hospital staff tried to save her unborn child, but couldn’t.
The 12-foot alligator, wearing a baseball cap for scale, was killed when struck by the truck.
Emergency services are seen at the scene of the accident in rural Texas in the early hours of Sunday.
Five people were in the vehicle, with Breaux at the wheel. The other four passengers, his father and three children, are expected to survive.
Breaux is pictured with her three children, who all survived the crash.
Rena Hebert, Breaux’s mother, confirmed the sad news and vowed to care for the three children.
“My daughter Gabrielle Breaux was returning from Texas with her father and 3 children and hit a huge alligator on the highway causing the truck to roll over multiple times,” she wrote on Facebook.
‘My beautiful Gabbi and her baby did not make it.
“Her other children sustained injuries that are not life-threatening, but have severe cuts, stitches and swelling.”
She added: ‘RIP my beautiful Gabbi.
‘Mom loves you and I will take good care of your babies and my grandchildren.’
Jared Lewis, a ranger in Victoria County, said victoria lawyer that alligator sightings on highways can occur because the animal is looking for a body of water.
Lewis, who has experience capturing and relocating alligators found on the roads, said the county ranger or sheriff’s office should be contacted when an alligator is found.
