The last memory Michelle Medina, 34, will have of her fiancé is of him lying face-down sticking his head into a black Toyota Matrix that had rolled over several times on Interstate 10, yelling, “Hello, is everyone alright?”
Medina, along with her sister, father and fiancé Enrico Antonio Rojo, witnessed the violent crash near Loma Linda about 1 a.m. Monday on their way to Los Angeles International Airport from Palm Springs. Rojo, a retired Marine and Purple Heart recipient, pulled over to the side of the road and tried to help the driver who caused the wreck.
Rojo, 29, didn’t know it at the time, but the driver was under the influence and only sustained minor injuries. He rushed to her car, which was in the middle of the highway.
“I was shocked,” said Mary Jane Medina, who was also in Rojo’s car. “It felt like a real life scene from a movie clip. I was shaking while I called 911 and, while I was on the phone, I heard a loud thud and my sister was screaming.”
A Hyundai Sonata struck and killed Rojo. His fiancé, still screaming, rushed to his side.
“She just kept holding Rico in the middle of the highway,” Medina said.
The driver of the wrecked vehicle was arrested for driving under the influence. The driver of the Sonata stopped and cooperated with police, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Medina, who was born and raised in Palm Springs, met Rojo in 2013 when he was stationed in Twentynine Palms, the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. The two were engaged on Christmas day last year and planned to marry in 2018 after they both completed an aviation program at California Baptist University in Riverside.
Rojo, who was in the Marine Force Reserves, hoped to be a drone pilot one day, Mary Jane Medina said.
He and Michelle Medina were driving to LAX to fly to Texas and spend Christmas and New Year’s Eve with Rojo’s family.
Since Monday morning’s fatal accident, Medina hasn’t stopped trying to hold on to her fiancé.
“She’s a mess,” her sister said. “She’s just hugging Rico’s stuff. Yesterday she was hugging his laptop. When we got home last night, she saw some of his books from school and she hugged them.”
Medina believes that the driver of the Sonata, who stopped after hitting Rojo and is not facing charges from police, was driving recklessly and should have slowed down before reaching the crash site.
Rojo’s family plans to hold funeral services in Texas after the coroner’s office finishes an autopsy.
Several Marines stopped by the Medina’s Palm Springs home Monday to pay their respects. The Redlands Fire Department would like to honor him with a recognition for his bravery, Medina said.
“He was a good person,” Medina said. “I want him to be recognized for that.”
Follow Gustavo Solis on Twitter: @journogoose
