ST. LOUIS — The mother and daughter killed in a crash outside a Drake concert early Wednesday morning had a "beautiful relationship," family members said Thursday.
St. Louis police on Thursday confirmed the women killed in a crash early Wednesday morning were 42-year-old Laticha Bracero and 21-year-old Alyssa Cordova. The women were in town for the Drake concert, which let out shortly before the women were struck while walking near Enterprise Center.
"They had a beautiful relationship. They did everything together," Margo Saucedo, a cousin of one of the women said. "God knew that they wouldn't be able to survive without each other."
Monte Henderson, 22, was charged Thursday in their deaths. He is facing two counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and two counts of armed criminal action, all felony charges.
Officers said Henderson was running red lights at 70 mph when he sideswiped the front end of another vehicle at North 18th and Olive streets. His Jeep rotated clockwise and hit Bracero and Cordova, who were walking in the crosswalk. The Jeep continued to move until it T-boned another vehicle.
According to a probable cause statement, Henderson admitted to arriving officers that he was driving the Jeep at the time of the crash.
Henderson was still in the hospital on Thursday.
"He's going to be held accountable," St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy said at a St. Louis Business Journal event Thursday. "He destroyed families, killed two people."
The St. Louis Business Journal also reported Henderson had no criminal record.
His attorney, Scott Rosenblum, said in a statement to 5 On Your Side:
"This is a very tragic accident. Monte is (a) very upstanding young man involved in academics and sports."
Another cousin, Nicole Rivera, said she was like a sister to Bracero. Both of their daughters were the same age.
She said Bracero was a supervisor at Wintrust Bank and Cordova was a college student working part time for Starbucks.
"My cousin was a dedicated mother who tried to do everything right for her daughter. They are both super loving, energetic, full of life and wanting to make memories and have fun. They're inseparable. They do everything together, they're like best friends, they share the passion for music. That's their thing is going to these concerts," Rivera told 5 On Your Side.
It was no surprise to her that the duo went to St. Louis to see Drake.
But she was shocked to hear the news and they are praying for all the victims.
"No one expects this to happen especially walking out of a concert. They have so much more life to live," she shared. "They are so much more than that. They are our family and we are going to miss them and they aren't two people who died trying to cross the street."
Rivera said she is comforted to know, the two will always be together.
She added, "If I'm being honest, the only way I can try to get through it is knowing that they were together because if either one of them made it, they wouldn't have survived without the other. We want them here more than anything but if we can't have that, of course, we want justice."
At an unrelated event on Thursday, Mayor Tishaura Jones expressed condolences for the family of the women killed and said the crash could have affected her own son.
"My heart goes out to the family who was affected by this incident," Jones said. "You know, there are a lot of people visit St. Louis for concerts. My son was actually at the concert Tuesday night, so he could have been one of the victims as well,"
Jones said the crash should highlight the need for street safety.
"This also renews our call for more street safety initiatives that are currently being stalled at the board of aldermen," Jones said.
She specifically mentioned the automated camera enforcement bill that was introduced in September and "hasn't moved since then."
Jones also said the city is using American Rescue Plan Act funds to improve the most dangerous intersections in the city and implementing changes based on previous studies that were "sitting on desks and collecting dust for years."
Jones said there are still some steps that need to be taken, but her office is hoping road work to improve safety and driving surfaces will start by the end of the year.
"What I have discovered as mayor is that it takes a long time from the time that the money is passed by the board and approved by the board of [estimates and apportionment] [...] to when we actually see the work in our communities," she said.
The family of the victims set up a GoFundMe for their funeral expenses and to bring them back to Chicago. Click here to donate.