ROUND ROCK, Texas — On Aug. 6, 2023, Willow Walker was about to experience a lot of “firsts.” She was about to start first grade the next day, she had her first loose tooth and she was a month away from celebrating her 7th birthday.
Her mother and stepfather, Caitlin Carpenter and Lorenzo Marquez. were driving on Interstate 35 heading northbound. They were heading home to get ready for the school year when Carpenter noticed the traffic abruptly stopped.
“I had actually looked in the rearview mirror and I saw a truck coming right at us,” Carpenter said. “He ran into us at 60 miles an hour, Willow was trapped in the back seat.”…