Crime & Safety
Designated Driver Dressed as Santa Killed by Accused Drunken Driver
The victim was on his way home from a holiday celebration. Police say the car careened out of control when a man began punching his wife.
A black ribbon hangs outside a South Side home amidst holiday decorations, and a Chicago family is in mourning this Christmas. As a designated driver for his friends, 24-year-old Eddie Fuentes made sure everyone got home safely after a recent holiday party.
But Fuentes never made it home.
Before heading out on Saturday, he dressed in a Santa Claus outfit and told his mom good-bye.
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“He kissed me, and I said be careful,” the 24 year old’s mother Laticia Monarrez told ABC Chicago. “And he never came back.”
Sunday morning, shortly after 3 o’clock, an out-of-control car struck Fuentes down at 53rd Street and South Western Avenue. Fuentes had just dropped off his last passenger and stopped for a hot dog at his favorite spot, Chicago’s Original Maxwell Street in Gage Park.
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A drunken driver was behind the wheel, according to Chicago Police, and she lost control of her Chevy Impala when her husband grabbed the wheel as he punched her in the face. Fuentes was rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. At about 8 a.m. Sunday morning, still in his Santa suit, Fuentes was pronounced dead of a traumatic brain injury, reports NBC Chicago.
A college student who worked at Red Box, Fuentes was a junior at Columbia College. His family told reporters he was a kind, happy, generous soul. He was the youngest of four siblings.
Jason Rayford, 30, an alleged gang member, is accused of reckless homicide for his role in sending the car hurtling toward Fuentes. After the car ran over the young man, Rayford ran away, according to Cook County prosecutors. He was caught by police a few blocks away. He’s also charged with domestic battery for punching his wife in the face prior to the crash, police said. His wife was charged with driving under the influence.
“The only thing I ask is justice for my son,” Monarrez said, “because if anyone knows my Eddie he was a good son.”
Bail for Rayford was set at $100,000 on Tuesday.
Fuentes was the one who always made sure his friends got home safe after a night on the town.
“He was too young to go,” his older brother, Fernando Fuentes, told the Chicago Tribune. ”It hurts that no one made sure that he got home safe
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