The husband of a woman who was 35 weeks pregnant said he is living a nightmare after a suspected drunken driver, who had history of DUIs and was driving on a suspended license, allegedly plowed into them as they took a nightly stroll on an Anaheim sidewalk.
James Alvarez says he remembers some but not all of what led up to the crash as they walked at 7:30 p.m. on Katella Avenue, near Bayless Street.
"As we turn around, we see the car losing control and it wasn’t stopping," he said.
He heard squealing, shouting and then he instinctively tried to hold on to his pregnant wife, 23-year old Yesenia Aguilar.
"I tried to dodge it, and tried to grab her hand and I lost my grip," he said through tears.
She was about six weeks away from giving birth to their baby girl, Adalyn Rose. Instead the baby was delivered in an emergency cesarean section. She remains in intensive care.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
"I'm just praying to God right now. She’s the only one I have left of her, of my wife," Alvarez said.
Police said the woman allegedly behind the wheel is 40-year-old Courtney Fritz Pandolfi. She was arrested on suspicion of murder and driving under the influence of drugs.
Her criminal history goes back at least 20 years, according to documents obtained by NBCLA. She has been sentenced numerous times to prison but always had her sentence stayed. According to the DMV, her license was suspended in 2016.
Alvarez said this is not the route he and his wife normally take. They decided to go the long way Tuesday night so they could stop and buy curtains for the nursery .
Back in May, there was a celebration when the couple revealed they’d be having a girl -- the first in a family filled with boys.
Now the entire Alvarez family is in shock. The family wept at the site of the crash, where candles and flowers now lay.
"I'm living a nightmare. I just want to wake up. I just want to wake up but it's not," Alvarez said. "She’s gone. She’s gone in a second."
Alvarez says the worst part is that his wife, who so wanted to meet her first child, never will.
He watches his baby on a livestream on his phone, set up at the hospital.
Any witnesses were asked to call Anaheim police at 714-765-1474.
A GoFundMe created by Alvarez will help with medical expenses as well as Aguilar's funeral.
