SHEFFIELD, Texas -- A Texas father watched as a drunk driver missed a curve and plowed straight into his son's bedroom, instantly killing the 4-year-old.
Authorities say 24-year-old Aaron Hinman was speeding and driving drunk on Main St. in Sheffield, Texas, when he crashed into the side of a home Sunday, August 16, 2015. Hinman's vehicle crashed into a bedroom where 4-year-old Jonah Stille was sleeping.
"Mark Stille, Jonah's dad, heard this man driving and thought there was a police chase underway, so he had stepped out his front door to see what was going on and he could see that he wasn't going to make the corner," Andy Vanderwier, the family's pastor, told KWES. "Mark stepped off of the porch and got just far enough off of the porch that he saw that F-150 plow into the end of his home."
Jonah was asleep in the room with three of his brothers.
"Jonah went from sleeping to being in the arms of Jesus and it was pretty traumatic," Vanderwier said. "Mark entered the room, he saw that those two boys were okay and he knew that Jonah was sleeping on the floor, and so he went looking for Jonah, felt his foot and just knew at that point."
Jonah leaves behind his two parents and five brothers, one of which was his twin, according to KCBD.
Hinman has been charged with intoxication manslaughter and injury to a child.
A gofundme page was established to help the family with funeral costs. A post to that page and several media outlets said the family planned to return to Illinois to lay Jonah to rest there. Nearly $30,000 had been contributed to the gofundme account in the first day since it was launched.
***Editor's note: The Stille family reportedly recently relocated from the Quad Cities area to their home in Sheffield, Texas. They planned to return to Illinois to lay Jonah to rest.