The mother of a teenager murdered by MS-13 gang members was killed on Friday after being struck by an oncoming SUV at the site of her daughter’s memorial.
Evelyn Rodriguez, who was recognized at the State of the Union address by President Trump, was reportedly standing in the street arguing about the memorial’s placement with the relative of someone who lived near the memorial when the SUV “sped toward them and struck her,” Fox News reported.
The investigation is ongoing, and the driver has not been arrested. Rodriguez died after being taken to the hospital, according to the New York Post.
The beaten body of Rodriguez’s daughter, 15-year-old Kayla Cuevas, was found the woods behind a Long Island home two years to the day before her mother was struck and killed. She was one of seven victims of a brutal string of killings attributed to the El Salvadorian MS-13 gang.
Rodriguez, 50, appeared on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” earlier this year to discuss her loss and her State of the Union address appearance.
President Trump tweeted his condolences Friday.
My thoughts and prayers are with
Evelyn Rodriguez this evening, along with her family and friends. #RIPEvelyn https://t.co/wMwxRdjBHM— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2018
“My thoughts and prayers are with Evelyn Rodriguez this evening, along with her family and friends,” he wrote.
New York Rep. Peter King called the tragedy “terrible news.”
Evelyn Rodriguez has passed away. Terrible news. RIP
— Rep. Pete King (@RepPeteKing) September 14, 2018
“The MS-13 gang is so unpredictable you just don’t know who is who with them,” Rodriguez said in May at a Bethpage, Long Island forum on gang violence, Fox News reported. “MS-13 is a new breed of murderers, they are children, kids killing kids, and as they continue to grow, so does their techniques of recruiting helpless kids into their wicked actions.”