Friends, Family Gather At Site Of Fatal Arvada Crash
ARVADA, Colo. (CBS4) – A mother is dead and her 15-year-old daughter has been hospitalized after the driver of a Jeep ran a red light and smashed into them in Arvada Sunday night.
The crash occurred at the intersection of 80th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard just after 10 p.m. Police say two men in a Jeep ran a red light while heading south on Sheridan. They crashed into a 40-year-old Monica Zapata, who was driving a Chevy Malibu heading west on 80th.
Zapata died instantly. Her teen daughter, Jessica, was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries. The impact from Jeep was so strong it destroyed half of the Malibu.
Monday night, family and friends gathered at the intersection to leave balloons and candles. Zapata leaves behind three children-- Jessica, 15, another daughter, and a son, said Erica Dominguez, Zapata's cousin.
"She was a great mother, beautiful mother, and she'll be missed, she's our angel watching over us," Dominguez said.
Zapata was attending beauty school, said classmate Katie Clair. She was just two months away from graduation.
"She was just a really hardworking person, always at school," said Clair, who brought purple balloons the scene of the crash. "She was such a selfless person, she was so dedicated to everything that she did."
Zapata grew up in Fort Lupton. Martin Rivera says he and Zapata were childhood friends.
"She was a really good friend of the family, we grew up together and I just wanted to pay my respects over here," Rivera said.
Police say the two men in the Jeep ran away from the scene. Westminster police apprehended them Highway 36 and Pecos Avenue. One of the two men police found went to the hospital for injuries from the crash.
One of the men has been identified as Jose Sandoval Cruz, 24, who police believe was the driver of the Jeep.
"Interviews and evidence at the scene indicate that Sandoval Cruz was the driver," police said in a statement.
Police can't say what charges Cruz may face at this point but said there were six witnesses that saw the crash and are helping them in the investigation. Police believe alcohol was involved.
It's the third fatal crash at that intersection in the last three years. Candles and flowers still mark the corner where Joe "Chico" Gonzalez was killed in a crash in May 2014, by a driver who also fled the scene, and was later caught and convicted of DUI.
Dominguez hopes there can be justice for her cousin.
"He deserves what he gets, you know," Dominguez said, referring to Cruz. She added, "we never understand why god takes us, she's in a better place though, she's in heaven."
Friends and family did provide updates on Jessica's condition Monday night, but said she remains hospitalized and surrounded by family.
Lauren DiSpirito is CBS4's Northern Newsroom reporter. Follow her on Twitter @CBS4Lauren. Share your story ideas with her here.
