Bride driving home from wedding killed by suspected drunk driver, Utah officials say
A 26-year-old Utah woman married her high school sweetheart on Friday.
Then she was killed by a wrong-way driver on the way to her sister’s house from the wedding early Saturday morning in South Salt Lake, officials said.
“What was the happiest day of her life suddenly became the saddest,” Utah Highway Patrol posted on Twitter.
After the wedding celebration, Angelica “Jelly” Dhondup and her niece stopped to buy carne asada fries before driving to her sister’s house to continue the wedding night.
Her niece, Marisol Demorst, said she originally drove but told Dhondup she felt anxious about driving on the freeway. So they switched drivers, according to a Fox 13 video of the family’s news conference on Monday.
Manaure Gonzalez-Rea, 36, had been driving southbound on the I-15 collector northbound lanes with another passenger when he struck Dhondup’s vehicle around 1:11 a.m., officials said.
Gonzalez-Rea, flipped his silver Toyota pickup in the collision, leaving a trail of debris, Utah Department of Public Safety said in a news release.
Dhondup called one of her sisters after the crash, to tell her where they were located and that she was in “severe pain,” Fox 13 reported. She spoke on the phone for two minutes before her sister said she died, according to KUTV.
A witness pulled over to provide assistance to the wreckage. Gonzalez-Rea then stole their vehicle and fled from the scene, the release said.
But troopers “quickly” arrested him. The passenger also fled from the scene after the crash but returned, officials said.
The arresting trooper said Gonzalez-Rea had “an overwhelming odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath in an open-air environment,” KTVX reported.
During the booking process, Gonzalez-Rea told police he drank three beers before the collision, according to a police statement obtained by the news station.
Demorst was transported to the hospital, officials said, with no life-threatening injuries.
It is unclear if Gonzalez-Rea suffered injuries. His passenger suffered minor injuries, but was not taken to the hospital or arrested, Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Cameron Roden told McClatchy News.
Demorst told the public on Monday the bride had spent the last hours of her life sharing how much she loved her new husband, children and family.
“I can’t sleep because all I see when I close my eyes is the truck that hit us,” Demorst said.
Dhondup’s husband, Tenzing, choked back tears as he spoke about his love for his wife.
“She was everything to me and her kids,” he said during the news conference.
Gonzalez-Rea was booked at the Salt Lake County Jail on suspect of multiple charges:
Automobile homicide criminal negligence DUI of alcohol/drugs (Class 2 felony)
Theft (Class 2 felony)
Failure to remain at an accident involving death (Class 3 felony)
Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs (Class A misdemeanor)
Reckless driving (Class B misdemeanor)
The investigation is ongoing.
The family of Dhondup created a GoFundMe page to collect donations for funeral expenses.
“Please don’t drink (and) drive,” the funding organizer, Gina Lucero, wrote.
Over the past weekend, Utah Highway Patrol said it investigated five crashes resulting in six deaths.
There have also been 179 crashes since the beginning of the year, UHP Col. Michael Rapich said.
This story was originally published August 9, 2021 at 4:17 PM with the headline "Bride driving home from wedding killed by suspected drunk driver, Utah officials say."
