Local car club holds fundraiser for young victim of shooting

In an effort to help the family of 8-year-old Nicasio Frausto, who was a victim in a road rage shooting in downtown Amarillo June 10, the Texas Chozen Car Club held a car wash on Saturday to raise funds to help Frausto’s family recover from this unfortunate incident.

Nicasio was with his family as they left Hodgetown following a fireworks demonstration on a late Friday night when the driver of another vehicle fired a shot into the truck he was in, hitting him across his head and fracturing his skull.

Eric Frausto, father of Nicasio, gave an update on how his son is doing.

“My son is doing pretty well; he is keeping in good faith and always happy, living it day by day,” Eric Frausto said. “The doctors said he should heal just fine with a scar where he was shot.”

“It is such a blessing the community of Amarillo has really gotten together to support us. Texas Chozen, I really appreciate them doing this for us,” he said.

Eric Frausto said that when the incident happened, he had no realization at first that his son had been hit by a bullet until his son stated “I think I have been hit” twice and that he felt something warm. His 13-year-old daughter, who was also in the car, looked over and confirmed he had been shot.

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Once Eric Frausto came to grips with the reality of the situation, he spotted the driver who had shot into his vehicle trying to flee the scene. The suspected shooter, identified as 58-year-old Frankie Lee Haigood, was kept from leaving the scene and was arrested by officers from the Amarillo Police Department.

Eric Frausto said that his son kept his composure amazingly well during the incident, never going into any panic.

“He was calmer than I was. I just took out of the truck and held him against my chest to slow the bleeding,” Eric Frausto said.

When asked if he felt the legislature was doing the right things in addressing gun violence, he said that he felt there were some small steps being taken but the issue needed to be taken more seriously with meaningful measures.

“I pray for the best; they are killing off our future,” Eric Frausto said. “It is terrible. I mean, every day there is a shooting. This happened out of nowhere. We were doing nothing but trying to go home, and this happened.”

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He said that he would like to see a reduction in guns on the street and that measures need to be taken to promote responsible gun ownership and to look harder at people who should have no access to firearms, such as the man who shot into his truck. He said these incidents are happening too much in Amarillo.

According to Eric Frausto, this is not the first incident his family has seen in the last year. Around Thanksgiving, he had an incident where some guy he did not know followed him and pointed a shotgun at his daughter’s face. He said the man was arrested, but a passenger in the vehicle with the suspect was allowed to take the shotgun home.

“The cops let them go home with the damn gun,” Eric Frausto said in disbelief.

Rachel Solis of Texas Chozen said that her club has known the family for years and wanted to do their part to support the family in their time of need. She also thanked the Texas Lady Riders for their support in helping to put on the car wash, as well as Advance Auto Parts for use of their space.

She said that all washes were done by donation, and that every little bit counted to help the family.

“For being put together within a week, I think this really turned out well,” Solis said. “I am so grateful for everyone that helped with this, with all of their donations and hard work.”

The Texas Lady Riders were at the event showing their support for the family. Angelica Morales-Medina of the Amarillo motorcycle group spoke about how her organization is out to help the community in any way that it can.

“We are just out to support Nicasio for medical expenses; we came out as a group to help the family,” Morales-Medina said. “We want to be a part of helping our community.”

To find out more about Texas Chozen and Texas Lady Riders, check out their respective Facebook pages, and to donate to Nicasio Frausto’s family, visit their GoFundMe page at  https://www.gofundme.com/f/prayers-for-nicasio?utm_campaign=p_cf%20share-flow-1&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer.