EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — One teenager is dead after falling victim to an alleged drunk-driving crash in the Lower Valley over the weekend, and another teen has been charged with intoxicated manslaughter in the crash.
Jesus Manuel Ceniceros, 19, died in the crash early Saturday morning, Jan. 27 at Carlotta and Marne in the Lower Valley.
Police say 18-year-old Nathan Rudy Rodriguez was driving drunk and struck a rock wall at a high rate of speed. Ceniceros, who was a passenger in the car, died from his injuries.
Family and friends of Ceniceros are mourning their loss and trying to make to make sense of it all.
Monica Armendariz, Ceniceros’ mother, told KTSM she can’t cry because she can’t believe the news about her son. She is remembering all their last moments together.
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Armendariz said she found out the tragic news because her neighbor went running and started yelling for her.
“Come on, we need to go. We need to go. They’re trying to keep him alive, but I don’t know what’s going on. I’m like, ‘Oh, she was like, Manny [Jesus], oh, no, no, no, please don’t tell me that’ and I ran. We ran, we got in the truck and that’s how we got there. We went running. I was yelling mijo’s name, but he was no longer there,” Armendariz said.
Before the crash, Ceniceros, Rodriguez and Angel Torres were at Torres’ house when Rodriguez decided he needed to leave.
“I told him that he was in no condition to drive. I told him he could just spend the night in my house or I could take him home. He didn’t want to. He didn’t want to,” said Torres, who describes himself as Ceniceros’ best friend.
Torres said once he realized that Rodriguez drove away and Ceniceros went with him, he followed behind, and as he followed he saw the crash.
Torres said he ran to Ceniceros and pulled him out from under the dashboard.
“I had him in my arms because, you know, he was still breathing. And I told him just to hang in there, that help was coming in, that for him to be strong, for me, for his family. And that’s when he stopped breathing,” Torres said.
Torres performed CPR, but reportedly had to fight off Rodriguez to try to do it, family members said.
“Angel was trying to revive my son. He (Rodriguez) was kicking my son, saying ‘Don’t be pretending. Wake up.’ Angel was like, ‘Stop doing that, you know?’ What are you doing?’ He also hanged up on the 911 call and kept on wanting to go away, try to get the car started,” Armendariz said.
Armendariz told KTSM she understands that her son had a choice to get in the car and she knows he did it with good intention as Ceniceros was trying to make sure Rodriguez got home safe.
“My son died because doing that. I want justice for my son. I want justice because he took away part of my heart. It took away … I have five children and I just have four now. I will never see my son come in through that door. He’s gone forever,” Armendariz said.
Torres said he doesn’t understand why this all had to happen and knows things will never be the same.
To donate and help the family with funeral cost, you can visit the GoFundMe by clicking here.
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