by SEAN KIMMONS
A 16-year-old boy was killed when a Union Pacific train struck him as he walked along the railroad tracks about a quarter mile south of downtown Kyle around 9 a.m. on Dec. 1.
The train engineer reported sounding the northbound train’s horn repeatedly and that Ramon Eric Zapata initially stepped off the tracks, but then stepped back on and was hit. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Pct. 2 Justice of the Peace Beth Smith.
Zapata was struck on a stretch of track flanked by heavy brush several hundred yards away from South Street, the nearest street crossing.
“We’ll be investigating this incident to determine what happened,” Union Pacific spokesperson Raquel Espinoza said. “These situations are extremely difficult when they involve young people... This is something that we don’t want to ever see again.”
Zapata attended Hays CISD schools but withdrew in 2008, according to Hays CISD spokesperson Julie Jerome.
His mother, Tamie Fuston, said that her son was planning to start classes as a sophomore at Lehman High School after moving back here from California.
“He was here trying to get his life back together,” Fuston said Thursday. “He just wanted a fresh start.”
Zapata was born in San Marcos and grew up in Kyle. He attended Lehman as a freshman before he left Texas, she said.
Her son was easygoing, made lots of friends and loved his family, Fuston said.
“You never messed with his family,” Fuston said. “He was very protective of them.”
Zapata also enjoyed the outdoors and liked to fish and hunt, his friend, Jordan Valdez, said.
“I’m in shock right now,” Valdez said last week. “He was a really good friend. … I’ve known him since he was seven. I watched him grow up.”
Fuston and others are still unsure what exactly happened on the tracks but someone had told her that her son was hunting and had a rifle with him, she said.
Kyle Police Chief Michael Blake confirmed Tuesday that Zapata had a rifle with him but no other items, such as headphones, which could have muffled out the sounds of the train’s horn, were found.
“He did have a .22 caliber rifle with him as he walked along the tracks, which was recovered at the scene,” Blake said.
In a written statement, City of Kyle spokesperson Jerry Hendrix said walking along train tracks is against the law and urged residents to avoid the rails.
“There is no indication that this is anything more than a tragic accident,” Hendrix said.
An autopsy has been performed by Central Texas Autopsy in Lockhart; however, findings will not be made public until weeks later after a toxicology report is completed, officials say.
Zapata is at least the fourth person killed by a train in Hays County in a little more than two years. All of those cases were in San Marcos and all involved probable suicides in which the person did not move off the tracks when warning horns were sounded.
No one was injured in October 2009 when an Amtrak train collided with a car that was stuck on the Main Street crossing in downtown Buda.
A funeral service for Zapata was held Saturday at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Kyle. He was then buried at San Vincente Cemetery on Old Stagecoach Rd.
Union Pacific paid for the funeral expenses, Fuston said.
