An 82-year-old grandmother was killed and several relatives were injured after authorities say a suspected impaired driver crashed into two family vehicles stopped on the shoulder of an Arizona freeway.
Ruth Acuña de Valenzuela was riding home from dinner with her grandson early Wednesday, Sept. 16, when their vehicle suffered a flat tire on U.S. 60 near Higley Road in Mesa, according to Arizona Family and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Family members came to help change the tire, and after the repair was finished, everyone was preparing to leave.
That is when another vehicle slammed into the two cars stopped on the shoulder, authorities said.
Ruth was killed in the crash. Two relatives were critically injured and taken to a hospital, while another family member suffered a broken collarbone, according to relatives.
Authorities identified the other driver as 21-year-old Zachary Robert Penrod.
Investigators said Penrod showed signs of impairment at the scene. He was arrested and booked into the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Jail on one count of manslaughter, two counts of aggravated assault and one count of endangerment. The charges are allegations, and the case remains under investigation.
Family member Javier Valenzuela said Ruth and his cousin were returning home from dinner when the flat tire forced them to pull over.
“They were really close, so he was always taking her everywhere,” Valenzuela told Arizona Family.
Javier said his aunt and uncle then arrived to help and planned to take Ruth home because her grandson’s vehicle was now riding on a spare tire.
Moments later, everything changed.
Javier said the suspected impaired driver first struck the vehicle carrying Ruth and his other relatives. His cousin then got out of his own vehicle and saw the aftermath firsthand.
“He’s traumatized. How could you not be?” Javier said.
The family says Ruth’s daughter and son-in-law have undergone multiple surgeries since the crash.
Her daughter, Alma Rosa Valenzuela, later shared an emotional tribute on Facebook, writing that she had been left devastated by her mother’s death.
A fundraiser has also been created to help the family with funeral expenses and medical bills.
Javier wrote that “in an instant, our world changed completely.”
The Arizona Department of Public Safety continues to investigate the collision.
