Texas experienced a devastating snow storm that took the lives of many Texans. The state doesn’t have the infrastructure built to tolerate extremely cold weather. Because of this, the snow storm had caused many issues such as burst pipes, hazardous icy roads, blackouts, and even leaving some people without water completely. Among the unfortunate lives that was taken during the storm was the life of an 11-year-old boy from Houston, Texas. 

On Saturday, February 16, 11-year-old Christian Pineda died in his sleep inside of a mobile home as a result of what is suspected to be hypothermia from the freezing temperature. His family had no access to electrical heating because the home lost power, leaving them without power and heat for two days while their area experienced temperatures dropped to as low as 10 degrees. 

Prior to his death, he was reported to be playing outside in the snow because it was his first time seeing snow. His mother stated that Christian was not sick that day. That night, Christian was put to bed with his 3-year-old step brother. His stepfather checked up on both children later at night and reported that they were both doing well. However, Christian became unresponsive in the morning. The family tried to perform CPR on the little boy while contacting 911, but it was too late. 

The family filed a lawsuit against the power companies, ERCOT and Entergy. The $100 million lawsuit blamed the company for misleading their customers into believing that the blackouts were temporary. Christian Pineda was not the only victim resulting from the corporate decisions, and their lack of preparation for the crisis. For now, the family set up a GoFundMe page that has raised over $88,000 for Christian’s body to be transferred to Honduras to fulfill the boy’s wish to see his grandparents again.