ELK GROVE-
It was on Tuesday morning, at 2:08 a.m. to be exact, that a 17-year-old girl would lose everything.
“She was happy, she was always happy,” cousin Veronica Hernandez told FOX40.
Marleni Baza, 17, just graduated from Calvine High School in Elk Grove, last week. She had planned to go to Sacramento City College in the fall.
Monday night was a night full of graduation celebrations, and even alcohol, according to friends and family.
It ended abruptly when a Honda Civic crashed in to a parked flat-bed truck near the intersection of Florin Road and 21st Street.
Baza was one of three people in that car, and was found dead at the scene.
Police tell FOX40 the driver and another passenger survived and, after the crash, they both ran to a home nearby, leaving Baza in the car.
The Civic is registered to a Hernando Villa, but it is unknown if he was driving the car before the crash.
Investigators have not released the name of the driver, But he was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter.
“Things happen. We never know what’s going to happen. She’s gone,” Hernandez said. “She left us and we’re going to really miss her. A lot.”
The driver will be booked into jail once he is medically cleared by a doctor.
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