At 10 p.m. on July 4, Michelle Booker-Hicks stopped for gas at a Shell station along Interstate 35 in south Dallas while on her way to a family holiday gathering.

As she ran into the convenience store to pay, her two sons, ages 2 and 4, were waiting in the back seat of her SUV. Booker-Hicks had left the car running. Before she returned to the vehicle, a man jumped into the driver’s seat and attempted to drive away.

Ricky Wright

“I proceeded to jump in my backseat and told...