{"id":50760,"date":"2014-04-21T09:31:19","date_gmt":"2014-04-21T16:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=50760"},"modified":"2014-05-20T13:55:03","modified_gmt":"2014-05-20T20:55:03","slug":"love-ones-mourn-girl-killed-when-alleged-drunk-driver-crashes-through-bedroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2014\/04\/21\/love-ones-mourn-girl-killed-when-alleged-drunk-driver-crashes-through-bedroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Loved ones mourn girl killed when alleged drunk driver crashed through bedroom"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The candlelight vigil was held around 8 p.m., Sunday, April 20, at the crash site, located in the 1000 block of East Avenue R in Palmdale. (Photo by JOHN MEZA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PALMDALE –\u00a0Close to 200 friends and family members gathered Sunday night to remember Giselle Mendoza<\/strong>, the 16-year-old Palmdale High School student killed in her sleep when an alleged drunk driver rammed his SUV through her bedroom wall early Easter morning.<\/p>\n

Loved ones shared hugs, tears and Easter prayers around a photo collage of Giselle, propped up by flowers and lit candles.<\/p>\n

\"(JOHN<\/a>
(JOHN MEZA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Giselle was a happy person who liked to exercise, said her sister Yadira Mendoza, who remembered walking with Giselle at Pelona Vista Park just this past Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe meant everything [to me], she was my bigger sister,\u201d Yadira said.<\/p>\n

Father Alberto Mendoza cried as he spoke in Spanish about his devastation. He said his daughter was always going to be in his heart, and he was thankful that she apparently didn\u2019t suffer before passing away in her sleep.<\/p>\n

\"(JOHN<\/a>
(JOHN MEZA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The candlelight vigil was held at the crash site around 8 p.m., Sunday, April 20, just minutes after alleged drunk driver Roberto Rodriguez<\/strong> bailed out of jail.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t my intention… I\u2019m sorry,\u201d Rodriguez told NBC Los Angeles<\/a>,<\/em> who caught up with the 20-year-old right after his release.<\/p>\n

Witnesses estimated Rodriguez was going about 80 miles per hour when he apparently lost control of his Nissan Pathfinder and crashed through Mendoza\u2019s bedroom wall early Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

Around 3:50 a.m., a Palmdale Sheriff\u2019s deputy on patrol noticed the sports utility vehicle embedded into the wall of the apartment building, in the 1000 block of East Avenue R. Witnesses at the scene had already detained Rodriguez, sheriff\u2019s official said. Read more details on the crash here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Roberto<\/a>
Roberto Rodriguez was released around 7:49 p.m., Sunday, April 20, after posting bond, sheriff\u2019s officials said.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Various media outlets have reported that Rodriguez was twice the legal limit at the time of the crash. He was arrested around 4:40 a.m. Sunday for driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter, with bail set at $100,000 bail.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez was released that same day, around 7:49 p.m., after posting bond, sheriff\u2019s officials said.<\/p>\n

He is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, April 22.<\/p>\n

UPDATED 4\/22\/14:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

No charges had been filed against Roberto Rodriguez as of Tuesday, April 22, because the case had not yet been presented to the Los Angeles District Attorney\u2019s Office, according to LADA spokesman Ricardo Santiago. A new arraignment date will be set once charges are filed.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

UPDATED 5\/20\/14:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Roberto Rodriguez was charged May 19 with murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage causing injury and driving with a .08% blood alcohol content causing injury. The case also alleges Rodr\u00edguez caused great bodily injury upon the victim, Giselle Mendoza. Rodriguez pleaded not guilty on May 20.<\/strong><\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Previous related story<\/span>:\u00a0Suspected drunk driver crashes SUV into Palmdale apartment, 16-year-old girl killed<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PALMDALE –\u00a0Close to 200 friends and family members gathered Sunday night to remember Giselle Mendoza, the 16-year-old Palmdale High School student killed in her sleep when an alleged drunk driver rammed his SUV through her bedroom wall early Easter morning. Loved ones shared hugs, tears and Easter prayers around a photo collage of Giselle, propped […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[719,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50760"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}