Wreck claims the lives of 3 young people

Published: May 26, 2008 07:28 PM
Modified: May 26, 2008 09:14 PM


By Mandy Locke, Staff Writer
Raleigh's roads have stolen much from Hermaldo and Estela Zintzun-Jimenez.

Three years ago, their youngest boy, Jose, died when a car slammed into their family's car. Sunday, another crash claimed the last of their children: Guillermo, 26, and Dagoberto, 21.

"They are hurting so bad, they can't even talk," said Felipe Rogelio, a cousin of the boys' father.

Guillermo and Dagoberto, brothers who acted more like friends, were driving a carload of buddies home from a party early Sunday morning when a drunk driver headed in the wrong direction slammed into them on the I-440 Beltline between Wake Forest Road and Capital Boulevard. The brothers died in the eastbound lanes, along with their 14-year-old friend, Santiago Pascual Tellez. The head-on crash banged up two others in Guillermo Zintzun-Jimenez' Lexus sedan; one recovered at home with his family, while another friend remained at Wake-Med-Raleigh Campus.

Francisco Javier Martinez, the man Raleigh police say caused the crash, is also mending at WakeMed. He faces three felony death by motor vehicle charges in addition to a charge of driving while impaired and driving without a license. Martinez will be taken to jail and booked after doctors release him.

Martinez, who police say was the driver and lone occupant of the Chevy van that slammed into the Lexus, has gotten in trouble on the roads before, court records show. Officers have written him up several times for not having a valid registration card and for not having insurance for his vehicle. In 2006, Martinez was convicted for having an open container of alcohol in his vehicle. His driver's license has been suspended on and off for those infractions in recent years; it's unclear whether his driver's license was valid when he wrecked Sunday.

Zintzun-Jimenez' family doesn't have much faith that Martinez will be punished for killing the brothers. The driver who killed their 14-year-old Jose in 2005 pleaded his misdemeanor death by motor vehicle charge down to a conviction of failure to maintain lane control, court records show.

"We've seen this happen before," Rogelio, the cousin, said.

Since their youngest son died, Hermaldo and Estela Zintzun-Jimenez have been scared every time their boys drive, Rogelio said. They tried not to fret, reminding themselves that their oldest two were careful. Guillermo Zintzun-Jimenez had also been driving the family car the day his brother Jose died. The car was giving them trouble that day, and Guillermo had pulled it onto the median of I-540 to take a look at the engine. A car slammed the rear of their vehicle before he could see about it, killing Jose.

Rogelio and a smattering of other relatives gathered outside the family's apartment Sunday and tried to understand how such ill fortune could befall such good young men.

"They didn't drink, they didn't smoke, they were the ones driving good Sunday," Rogelio said. "The horrors of this just hurt."

The family came to the United States from Mexico about 12 years ago, Rogelio said. The oldest son, Guillermo, found work in construction. Dagoberto was a cashier at a Sears store in North Raleigh. The young men lived in an apartment off Litchfield Road with their parents.

Relatives and family friends are trying to raise money to help the Zintzun-Jimenez family pay for the funerals of their children. Donation boxes will be set up at several stores in the area.

mandy.locke@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-8927

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