Woman killed by police-chased vehicle ID’d as a pastor

Relatives of a 75-year-old woman killed in a crash involving the driver of a stolen car who led officers on a chase identified her as a pastor.

The woman, Gloria Collins, was hit by an 18-year-old motorist at a red light around 10:15 a.m. Thursday in the 7500 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard, near Van Fleet Street, moments after police lost sight of him during a chase. Collins died at the scene — about 2 miles from her MacGregor Park-area home.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner on Thursday identified her as the mother of a HPD sergeant.

Several relatives, who declined to talk, gathered Saturday morning at Collins’ home as Houston police officers in unmarked vehicles kept watch from the street. One family member noted Collins’ work as a faith leader with the Church of the Living God.

The crash left the other driver, Trenton Bevel, who police said was behind the wheel of a Dodge Charger that had been reported stolen that week, hospitalized in critical condition, officials said.

Bevel has been charged with felony murder. Felony murder most often is applied when someone is accused of already being in the commission of another felony and a death results. According to court documents, the underlying felony is unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Police had been chasing the Dodge Charger in the moments before the crash but ended their pursuit after losing sight of him about a mile from the wreckage, authorities said.

Finner said the fatal wreck had nothing to do with the prior pursuit or HPD chase policies.

Bevel’s arraignment is scheduled for next Tuesday.

More than 25 people have died in connection to police car chases between 2018 and 2022 and hundreds more injured, according to a Houston Chronicle investigation. Following the investigation, Finner pledged to change pursuit policies.

Houston has more car chases than in Dallas, San Antonio and Austin combined.