A 45-year-old woman has been charged with feticide and murder after it was discovered that she was under the influence of two substances when she crashed and killed a 22-year-old pregnant woman and her unborn baby.
Shannon Alvarez was arrested for third-degree feticide and vehicular homicide after 22-year-old Jade Lewis and her baby were killed in a road rage crash.
Cops believe that after one of the motorists wouldn’t let the other merge around Williams Boulevard and West Esplanade Avenue, the two started speeding down the road to block each other.
However, Alvarez’s car clipped Lewis’ front and caused it to go off the street and crash into a utility pole.
Lt. Michael Cunningham of the Kenner Police Department said: “Someone wanted to get in the other lane, they get too close, someone blows their horn and then it escalates from there.
“Then the other driver doesn’t want to let somebody over. Witnesses are saying that’s what happened here.”
Alvarez’s car then fishtailed and went off-road, hitting another pole.
Unfortunately, Lewis passed away at the scene and her baby did not survive the crash. Alvarez was arrested three weeks later after toxicology tests showed she was under the influence of dangerous substances.
According to reports, she faces other violation charges as well.
The victim’s boyfriend, Marcus Villavasso, said to WDSU: “Devastation. My heart just broke. I feel like my soul was ripped out of my body. I lost my mother as a kid, as a teenager. I feel like she [Lewis] somewhat filled a void for me; my kid that I was supposed to meet next week would’ve been my second one with her.”
Villavasso also warned: “Road rage is never the answer. It’s never safe. From here on out, I would ask not only people here in New Orleans, but people worldwide, to take it one day at a time.
“When you drive, drive with patience. When you drive, drive knowing there are others on the side of you, in front of you or behind you. Drive knowing there are other lives at stake.”
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