Dad creates powerful PSA after 9-year-old killed by drunk driver

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Not a day goes by that Eric Stephens doesn’t think about his daughter.

“I miss her kisses, her hugs,” he said.

Jade Stephens was killed by a drunk driver on the night of her birthday party in 2014, just days before she turned 10.

“She would have been a 10th grader,” he said. “I would have loved to have seen her, how she would have been.”

He’s made peace with the fact that she was called to heaven too young, too soon and has also forgiven the man who crashed into his vehicle killing his baby girl.

Salvador Delao is serving his 14-year prison sentence for driving drunk and killing Jade.

“He will get out, he will still get to see his kids grow up, but not me. I won’t get to see my baby do anything,” he said.

That is why Stephens is constantly getting his story out to the community. He works with many organizations to send the message: Don’t drink and drive.

He recently worked with Houston METRO releasing his story in a public service announcement, hoping to get people to ride METRO for free this New Year’s Eve.

“I know it may be hard because you want to go out and drive, but it only takes one time. That’s all it takes,” he said.

As you make your plans to ring in a new year, Stephens want you to remember his baby girl’s face and the many years that were ripped from his entire family.