Easter morning brought devastation to a Palmdale family when a 16-year-old girl was killed by her allegedly drunk neighbor who drove his SUV through her bedroom wall.
Although early reports said that Giselle Mendoza was killed upon impact, a subsequent recounting of the tragedy by a witness claimed he could hear the Palmdale High School Senior in agony: “You would hear her moaning, kind of, inside the wall,” eyewitness James Fisher King told CBS Los Angeles.
“I saw a car coming down 10th, east, about 80-85 mph, and it didn’t stop or hesitate. Just right into the building. Boom,” Fisher King said. The car was a Nissan Pathfinder SUV driven by Roberto Rodriguez of Palmdale. Preliminary blood alcohol tests show that Rodriguez was driving at twice the legal limit for alcohol and, according to one witness, was speeding and had ran a red light just prior to the accident.
Yadira Mendoza, Giselle’s older sister, was grief stricken by the death of her sister but was still able to pass on a meaningful message. “I just want…all the people who drink and drive to stop doing it,’ said told KTLA. “It’s just causing pain for families. They are losing their family members.”
Unfortunately, Giselle’s father saw no message in the loss of his daughter other than his broken heart. “I’m destroyed now…she lived here,” he said, as he pointed to his heart.
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