Related links
PARKER COUNTY, TEXAS -
Tritan Hair has been waiting for Santa Claus all week.
Instead, he got thieves.
The Parker County boy's home was broken into Tuesday, and thieves took all of the wrapped gifts under his family tree and various other valuables. In all, thieves made off with more than $1,800 worth of Christmas gifts and items.
And if that wasn't bad enough, the burglary came days after his 23-year-old aunt was involved in a car wreck that left her with a severe brain injury.
"You don't ever think that tragedy happens," Renee Hair said. "But I've had a whole week of it."
The tragedy started Dec. 16 when her sister, Deborah Hill, fell asleep at the wheel while traveling on North 51 between Weatherford and Springtown. Hill drove off an embankment and overturned in a ditch.
Hours later, Parker County deputies found her.
She spent several days in the intensive care unit at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth with a brain bleed.
On Tuesday morning, Hair went to see her sister in the hospital, but when she returned, she found her front door open and the presents gone.
"Who would do this?" she said. "I don't understand how someone can come in and take kids' presents."
Hair told Tritan that a "bad man had broken into the house and taken the presents." He asked, "Mom are they going to bring them back."
Hair had to tell him that the presents weren't coming back -- a reality that the 5-year-old was beginning to realize Wednesday.
"No presents for me," he said.
Thieves made off with video games, a train track set, pajamas, a Winnie the Pooh talking phone and other presents that were all wrapped and under the tree. The family's Microsoft Xbox and laptop were also stolen.
With her sister's wreck, Hair said, she won't be able to replace the presents for her children.
"I have to buy a new car," she said. "I don't have any money."
She tried to put her children on the Salvation Army's Angel Tree, but she was told it was too late. Her family is working with a nearby church and her employer to try to bring a little Christmas joy to her children.
Hair said her Christmas present is her sister, who is recovering.
"Kids won't always remember," she said. "I'd rather have my sister here alive."
Instead, he got thieves.
The Parker County boy's home was broken into Tuesday, and thieves took all of the wrapped gifts under his family tree and various other valuables. In all, thieves made off with more than $1,800 worth of Christmas gifts and items.
And if that wasn't bad enough, the burglary came days after his 23-year-old aunt was involved in a car wreck that left her with a severe brain injury.
"You don't ever think that tragedy happens," Renee Hair said. "But I've had a whole week of it."
The tragedy started Dec. 16 when her sister, Deborah Hill, fell asleep at the wheel while traveling on North 51 between Weatherford and Springtown. Hill drove off an embankment and overturned in a ditch.
Hours later, Parker County deputies found her.
She spent several days in the intensive care unit at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth with a brain bleed.
On Tuesday morning, Hair went to see her sister in the hospital, but when she returned, she found her front door open and the presents gone.
"Who would do this?" she said. "I don't understand how someone can come in and take kids' presents."
Hair told Tritan that a "bad man had broken into the house and taken the presents." He asked, "Mom are they going to bring them back."
Hair had to tell him that the presents weren't coming back -- a reality that the 5-year-old was beginning to realize Wednesday.
"No presents for me," he said.
Thieves made off with video games, a train track set, pajamas, a Winnie the Pooh talking phone and other presents that were all wrapped and under the tree. The family's Microsoft Xbox and laptop were also stolen.
With her sister's wreck, Hair said, she won't be able to replace the presents for her children.
"I have to buy a new car," she said. "I don't have any money."
She tried to put her children on the Salvation Army's Angel Tree, but she was told it was too late. Her family is working with a nearby church and her employer to try to bring a little Christmas joy to her children.
Hair said her Christmas present is her sister, who is recovering.
"Kids won't always remember," she said. "I'd rather have my sister here alive."
