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oh2nd Anniversary Daughter was brutally murderedEvelyn Rodriguez returned to Long Island, New York, She was murdered.
The sun was shining brightly as she placed candles, balloons and a large wreath next to a smiling photo. Kayla Cuevas, 16.
A few hours later, Rodriguez, 50, learned Night Watch She left to honor Kayla’s passing.
She returned to the scene, and after a brief altercation, Rodriguez was run over by the woman who had torn down her daughter’s memorial.
The grieving mother was murdered – at the very spot where her daughter was killed, on the same day.
But this horrific incident did not bring closure to the family.
Six years later, the woman who hit Rodriguez has avoided jail time because of her death.
Rodriguez’s daughter, Kelsey Cuevas, 26, reportedly said in court: “My family and I still won’t be at peace.” CBS News.
MS-13 Murders
The tragic turn began in 2016.
Kayla and her best friend Nisa Mickens (15) got into an argument with a classmate who was La Mara Salvatrucha – more commonly known as MS-13.
The group was born in the poor communities of Los Angeles in the 1980s and was originally composed of Salvadoran immigrants.
Today, this transnational violent gang has about 80,000 members and is one of the most brutal gangs in the underworld. Its twisted slogan is: “Kill, rape, control.”
Suffolk County is MS-13 The group has been active for more than two decades, and federal authorities claim it is responsible for more than two dozen murders on Long Island since 2013.
On September 14, 2016, a group of Gang members including Enrique Portillo They were patrolling a Hispanic neighbourhood in Brentford when they spotted Kayla and Nisa.
They chased the two best friends with machetes and baseball bats.
Two teenagers were brutally hacked and beaten to death.
The next day, Kayla’s body was found behind a house.
After his daughter’s death, Rodriguez became a symbol of the fight against MS-13 gang violence.
Grieving people knocked on doors, harassed police and eventually made contact with then-President Donald Trump.
Kayla’s murder became a defining moment in the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Gangs and the “violent beasts of MS-13.”
In January 2018, Rodriguez attended Trump’s State of the Union address as a guest.
Thanks to Rodriguez’s unwavering determination, MS-13’s hold on Long Island eventually began to wane.
Portillo later pleaded guilty to both charges. murder September 2023. MS-13 leader Alexi Saenz He also pleaded guilty to charges of involvement in last month’s killing.
Tragedy strikes again
The day before the second anniversary of the murder, Rodriguez Fox and Friends Launch a campaign against gang violence on campus.
Less than 24 hours later, on September 14, 2018, she was back at the scene in Brentford to set up a memorial service for her daughter.
The sidewalk outside the house is often filled with mourners who light candles and pour drinks in memory of the teens who were killed.
The woman who lived in the house had had enough of the parties and moved out, leaving her daughter, Annmarie Drago, to sell the home, according to her attorney.
Drago, a nurse from Patchogue, had enough and she tore down the memorial and put it in the back of her car.
After learning Drago had taken down the night watch, Rodriguez returned to the scene and confronted her as she was pulling out of the driveway in her white Nissan Rogue.
The nurse began to speed up – and Rodriguez began to scream.
Drago struck Rodriguez’s foot with the front wheel of his car, causing her to fall to the sidewalk.
Drago continued driving and ran over Rodriguez with his rear wheel, killing her.
Rodriguez was pronounced dead minutes after arriving at the hospital.
The horrific scene was captured on camera by a local news crew and later confirmed by the Suffolk County Prosecutor’s Office.
Donald Trump tweeted about her death: “My thoughts and prayers are with Evelyn Rodriguez and her family and friends tonight.”
Judgment
In November of that year, Drago was charged with manslaughter.
In February 2020, she went on trial and the court was forced to play the harrowing video repeatedly.
She was eventually found guilty and jailed for nine months, but served just one week before being released on bail pending her appeal.
The high court later overturned Drago’s conviction in 2022 and ordered a retrial after ruling that prosecutors made “inappropriate comments during summing up.”
Prosecutors tried her again in October of that year, and the jury deadlocked on that charge.
She returned to court in 2023 for trial, where her attorney, Matthew Hereth, described Rodriguez’s death as a “tragic accident.”
Then in May, Drago pleads guilty She will face a third retrial after being charged with criminally negligent homicide.
Family members of Rodriguez and Cuevas say they are forced to experience the pain of death every day as the trial seems never-ending.
Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of one to three years, but on Tuesday a judge told the 63-year-old woman she would not face any jail time.
She stood expressionless in the courtroom as she was sentenced to five years’ probation.
Rodriguez and Kayla’s relatives cried. This was not the result they had hoped for.
One of Rodriguez’s surviving daughters, 14-year-old Caitlin Cuevas, told the court: “I will never forgive you for what you did.”
Kelsey told The New York Times She felt like she hadn’t even had time to mourn her mom.
“When will it end?” she asked.
“When can I sit here quietly and grieve?”
For her and other loved ones of Rodriguez and Kayla, the Brentford house – though now repainted – remains a constant reminder of their tragic deaths.
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