Heartbroken husband speaks out after pregnant wife fatally struck by DUI suspect in Anaheim
A heartbroken husband is speaking out after his pregnant wife was fatally struck by a DUI suspect in Anaheim.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (KABC) -- A heartbroken husband is speaking out after his pregnant wife was fatally struck by a DUI suspect in Anaheim.
Yesenia Lisette Aguilar, 23, was walking with her husband James Alvarez on a sidewalk Tuesday in the area of Katella Avenue and Bayless Street when police say the driver jumped the curb and killed her.
Aguilar, a Disneyland employee, was 35 weeks pregnant at the time of the collision.
Her child was delivered and is in critical condition.
It was not how Alvarez planned to welcome his first-born into the world.
A heartbreaking image of the infant shows her fighting for her life in the hospital.
"I wish I could turn back time, even switch places because she did not deserve this. Nobody deserves this," said an emotional Alvarez.
Alvarez said he and his wife were excited to have a child after trying for two years. The couple expected to welcome their child into the world Sept. 20.
But their lives completely changed Tuesday evening.
Anaheim police said a suspected drunk driver, Courtney Pandolfi of Garden Grove, drove her Jeep onto a curb as the couple took their evening walk and Aguilar was hit.
Alvarez remembers their last conversation.
"We were literally talking about how we were going to prepare the baby's closet, the baby's room, we were thinking about the curtains," Alvarez said.
Their baby Adalyn Rose was delivered via cesarean section at UCI Medical Center.
Pandolfi was booked on suspicion of murder, DUI drugs causing bodily injury, and driving with a suspended license, police said. She is expected to appear in court Thursday.
Alvarez is still in shock, left planning how to raise his baby without his better half.
"I want to do my best and show her that she's going to be in good hands, so now it's my responsibility to be the father and the mother of our child," he said. "Yes, I don't know what to do, but I have to learn."
A GoFundMe page has been created in Aguilar's honor.
