'I want to fight for her': New video shows athlete on her final run before being killed by driver


'I want to fight for her': New video shows athlete on her final run before being killed by driver

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The family of elite runner Lilia Vazquez wants the driver who hit and killed her on Friday to be found.

Vazquez, 61, was set to run the Houston Marathon next week as an invited Elite Runner. She was hit during her daily morning run along Westpark, between Ocee and Jeanetta.

"She was a very accomplished runner, a fighter, an encourager," her oldest daughter, Mariana, said. "But her proudest accomplishment was my sister and I. That was her biggest identity. Just being a mom."

Vazquez's husband, Steve Tiemann, and their daughters, Mariana and Cecilia, spoke to ABC13 in hopes of generating new leads on finding the driver who hit her.

"I think my sadness is the greatest right now. I'm just kind of lost," Tiemann, who met Vazquez while jogging 20 years ago, said.

ABC13 obtained a new, high-quality video showing Vasquez on her final run.

The video shows the veteran marathoner running back and forth along Westpark on Friday starting at 6:10 a.m.

She runs south on Ocee, then east on Westpark before turning around and running back up Ocee. She repeats this route several times.

At 6:14 a.m., she runs East on Westpark, stops to let a car turn into a convenience store parking lot, and then proceeds on her route. She never returns.

The video obtained by ABC13 does not indicate which car hit Vazquez.

When contacted by ABC13, the Houston Police Police Department had no new information on the investigation's status.

It is also unknown when police will release additional surveillance footage they may have obtained closer to the exact location where Vazquez was hit.

"Looking at it, I realized my mom gave up her entire life just so my sister and I could have more," Cecilia said. "I know if she had to redo everything, she would do it all again."

Several of Vazquez's running friends gathered at her home Monday morning, wearing the various medals she won during her many marathons around the country.

"She had a natural gift for running. She's a mentor to a lot of us, she's a pillar in the running community, and hundreds of people love this woman," Brenda Gonzalez, one of her friends, said.

She added that the running community plans to ensure Vazquez's registration at the Houston Marathon is carried out.

"Her family would like her bib to run. We're working now with Chevron/Houston Marathon to see if we can run her bib in memoriam," Gonzalez said.

HPD does not have a suspect as of Monday. Her daughters say their singular focus is to generate leads to solve their mother's case.

"I think what's pushing me forward is knowing that if anything happened to any of us that she loved, she would not stop fighting, and I want to fight for her until the end, and I want to find who did this," Mariana said.

There is a vigil planned on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Memorial Park. If anyone has any information on who may have hit Vazquez, you are urged to call HPD.

For news updates, follow Miya Shay on Facebook, X and Instagram.

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