The paper talks about them like they're the family next door, but they stuffed 8 people in a car. They're also begging for the public's help to bury their dead. You want to make a bet the final plan is to send them back to Mexico for burial? We've seen it before...

Aunt struggles with loss of 5 in crash
Sarah Muench
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 20, 2007 06:24 PM

Mayra Ramirez Pedraza preferred to listen to reggaetón and dance around the house more than hitting the books.

But the 11-year-old from a small town in the state of Morelos, Mexico, still made the honor roll at Yavapai Elementary School and had perfect attendance before school let out for summer.

"I would give her a book to read and she would tell me it's too long and would want to go back to listening to music," her aunt, Victoria Castillo, who only speaks Spanish, said Friday afternoon in the north Tempe home she and the Pedraza family share. "She would say she read it and then I would ask her questions about what it was about."

But Castillo can't playfully argue over music and books anymore with Mayra, who was going to turn 12 in about three weeks on Aug. 13.

Mayra, and four other relatives died in a horrific crash Thursday in Scottsdale after a pickup driver from Chandler ran a red light and slammed into a Cadillac carrying eight people, Scottsdale police said.

The five killed were identified as Noelia Robolledo Sánchez, 36; her husband, Antonio Pedraza Olivares, 30; their son, Antonio Pedraza Robolledo, 4; and their nieces, Jennifer Ramirez Pedraza, 7, and Mayra, 11.

Cadillac driver Guadalupe Pedraza Olivares, 26 - who is Jennifer and Mayra's mother - was injured and is in stable condition, police said. Guadalupe is the sister of Antonio Pedraza Olivares.

Also injured were two daughters of Noelia and Antonio: Abigail, 7, in critical condition, and Ariana, 12, in stable condition.

The pickup driver, Robert Miers, 25, was treated and released from Scottsdale Healthcare-Osborn, police said. Miers, going westbound on McDowell Road, ran a red light and struck the Cadillac sedan as it turned from eastbound McDowell to northbound Granite Reef Road, police said.

Neither driver was impaired, said Sgt. Mark Clark, a Scottsdale police spokesman.

Castillo said that since the three surviving victims are still hospitalized, where the family was going at the time of the crash remains confusing. One child likely was going to the dentist while 4-year-old Antonio was to be dropped at school.

"It was difficult to believe because they are three children (who died)," Castillo said.

Now Abigail and Ariana have been left parentless, although the two families live together in one north Tempe home, where Castillo resides.

Their father, Antonio, worked at an Italian restaurant in Scottsdale, just up the street from their home, and Noelia worked at a boutique.

Weeping, Castillo said she and the children, whom she considers like hers, helped take care of each other.

Little Antonio was a good boy and "just like any other boy," she said. He loved to play all day and went with his father to play basketball.

Jennifer was very athletic and loved to swim, ride her bicycle and draw, Castillo said.

They all used to eat dinner together at one table.

"I'm not their mother, but they were a big part of my life," Castillo said. "I didn't have much time with them, but the time I had was very beautiful."


You can help
The family is now struggling to pay for funeral costs, Castillo said. An account has been set up at Wells Fargo in the name of Guadalupe Pedraza Olivares, Account number 1787206786.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 21-ON.html

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