Family, neighbors remember Chicago mother, daughter struck and killed by Jeep in St. Louis
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A mother and her adult daughter were run over by a reckless driver after leaving a Drake concert in St. Louis this week – and now their family is asking for help.
Meanwhile, the driver is facing charges in the women's deaths.
Neighbors of Laticha Bracero, 42, and her daughter Alyssa Cordova, 21, said the two were very close. They said it was no surprise that the women went to a concert together, and they were all shocked and saddened to hear about how what was supposed to be a fun night out ended in tragedy.
"They were both super fun-loving, energetic, just full of life, and wanting to make memories and just have fun," said Bracero's cousin, Nicole Rivera.
CBS affiliate KMOV 4 reported the crash happened at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday at 18th and Olive Streets in St. Louis. A speeding 2020 Jeep Cherokee ran a red light and sideswiped the front of a 2017 Mitsubishi Outlander – and then hit the two women who were crossing in the crosswalk, the station reported.
They had just left a Drake concert at the Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis.
"They were genuinely good people," neighbor Marlena McLaurin said of Bracero and her daughter.
McLaurin has known the mother-daughter duo for 15 years. She lives in the same Garfield Park area multi-unit building as they did.
"We would sit out on the porch during the summertime and listen to the fireworks, have a cocktail. We just enjoyed each other as neighbors," McLaurin said. "She would send me food upstairs to me. She cooked rice, tacos. They were a loving mother and daughter."
It is the same way their relationship is described in a GoFundMe apparently organized by family members.
Bracero worked as a supervisor at a local Wintrust bank branch, while Cordova – her only child – was going to college and working at a Starbucks Coffee.
"Alyssa loved music concerts, and although was old enough to travel to concerts on her own, her mom would always escort her," the GoFundMe read.
"That should tell you that they were very close," said McLaurin.
Police said the man driving the Jeep - man identified as 22-year-old Monte Henderson – also broadsided a 2015 Mazda CX-5.
Four other people, including Henderson, were injured – but are expected to recover.
Bracero died at the scene, while Cordova was taken to the hospital before she too died.
"They're so much more than that," said Rivera. "They're our family, and we love them, and we're going to miss them - and they're not just two people who died, you know, trying to cross the street."
"They're just going to be missed," McLaurin said.
The family is raising funds in an effort to bring the mother and daughter home.
Meanwhile, police said suspect Henderson is facing multiple charges – including two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
