“The only difference that day was we took a different route,” Alvarez said. “We took the long way home.”
He heard screams from the nearby shopping center as a SUV lost control.
Clutching the hand of his 23-year-old wife, Yesenia Lisette Aguilar, he recalled, “I closed my eyes, thinking this is how our lives would end.”
Then, she was ripped away, said Alvarez, among the speakers at the Orange County District Attorney’s Office’s annual ceremony for crime victims in Santa Ana on Monday, April 22.
“I see it so vividly,” he said, choking up. “Seeing her, the person I expected to spend the rest of my life with suddenly gone. … I could not register what was going on.”
Aurora Carlos carries a picture of her son, Jose Benjamin Salvidres, who was shot and killed almost three years ago. His photo was displayed along with dozens of others during a Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana on. Monday, April 22, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The OC Deputy Sheriff’s Pipes and Drums Band plays “Amazing Grace” while victims of crime stand together during the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Flowers are placed at the Crime Victims Monument in Santa Ana on Monday, April 22, 2024 after a ceremony remembering those who were killed. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/
James Alvarez, right, with his 3-year-old “miracle baby,” Adalyn Rose Alvarez-Aguilar, talks during the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana on Monday, April 22, 2024. Yesenia Aguilar was 36-weeks pregnant when she was struck and killed by a drunk driver while the couple were out for a walk. His daughter survived after an emergency C-section. Senior Deputy District Attorney Brian Orue is at left.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Deputy District Attorney Bethal Cope-Vega hugs a woman who spoke at the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Photos of crime victims are displayed during a Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
James Alvarez, right, is comforted by his 3-year-old “miracle baby,” Adalyn Rose Alvarez-Aguilar, as he talks during the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana on Monday, April 22, 2024. Alvarez’ wife, Yesenia Aguilar, was struck and killed by a drunk driver while the couple were out for a walk when she was 36-weeks pregnant His daughter survived after an emergency C-section. Senior Deputy District Attorney Brian Orue is at left.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Aurora Carlos wears a locket with a picture of her son, Jose Benjamin Salvidres, inside. Salvidres was shot and killed almost three years ago. She was at the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana on. Monday, April 22, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Three-year-old Adalyn Rose Alvarez-Aguilar is a spirited child who survived an emergncy C-section after her mother was struck by a drunk and killed by a drunk driver while pregnant with her. She was at the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana on Monday, April 22, 2024 where her father James Alvare spoke about his wife’s death. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Socorro Alvarez, whose daughter-in-law was killed by a drunk driver, attends the Crime Victims’ Ceremony in Santa Ana on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
James Alvarez with his 3-year-old “miracle baby,” Adalyn Rose Alvarez-Aguilar, during the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana on Monday, April 22, 2024. Alvarez’ wife, Yesenia Aguilar, was struck and killed by a drunk driver while the couple were out for a walk when she was 36-weeks pregnant His daughter survived after an emergency C-section. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
When the paramedics arrived he was told he could not go with his wife to the hospital, because it was during the pandemic.
“I remember telling the paramedics to save her, and if you can’t, save my daughter,” he said.
When he got to the hospital, he was “given the news no one wants to hear. … Hearing this news, it broke me because I felt as a husband it was my duty to protect my family but I failed.”
Doctors were able to rescue his daughter with emergency surgery. When the newborn was stable enough for a visit in the intensive-care unit, he again met a moment that “broke me” — seeing her attached to life-saving equipment.
But seeing her “fighting for her life,” inspired him to go on, he said.
Adalyn Rose’s birthday, Aug. 11, the dad added, will always be the anniversary of her mom’s death, too.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said it was important for law enforcement officials to avoid cynicism.
“We need (victims) to remind us so we don’t get calloused,” Spitzer said. “I never want to lose my humanity doing this work. … I don’t want to be numb.”
No matter the “political bent,” Orange County residents are “united” in wanting to fight crime, Spitzer said.
“I feel very strongly we’re so united … about keeping our community safe to the best of our ability.”
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