20-year-old nurse killed by accused drunk driver on way to work, Wisconsin family says
A 20-year-old who had just completed her nursing degree was killed by an accused drunk driver as she was driving to her new job, according to her family and Wisconsin police.
Police in Caledonia, about 20 miles south of Milwaukee, said Johanna Pascoe died at a hospital on Tuesday, Dec. 13, the the day after the crash.
Ernesto Rodolfo Regalado Rodriguez was traveling around 6:15 a.m. Monday when his vehicle crossed the center line, striking the vehicle being driven by Pascoe, police said.
There were empty beer cans in Regalado Rodriguez’ vehicle, and a breath test showed he had a blood-alcohol level of .199, according to The Journal Times. The legal limit is 0.08.
“With so much education as it relates to drunk/drugged driving and numerous rideshare options, there is absolutely no reason for tragedies like this to occur,” police said.
Regalado Rodriguez faces numerous charges, including homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, according to Caledonia police.
Pascoe graduated from Gateway Technical College’s nursing program just days before the crash and was driving to St. Luke’s hospital for her new job as an ICU nurse, a GoFundMe states.
“I was at work Monday morning,” Elisha Pascoe, Johanna’s oldest sister, told TMJ. “I was on a break telling my coworkers about Johanna’s graduation ceremony, and I kept getting these random phone calls that I thought were spam, but when I listened to the voicemail, it was Caledonia Police.”
Johanna Pascoe — ’a truly positive and joyful soul’
Pascoe recently began a job as an extern nurse at St. Luke’s and was planning on earning her bachelor’s degree to work as a full-time registered nurse, according to the GoFundMe created by her sister Elisha Pascoe.
She was described as “a ray of sunshine to all who knew and worked with her.”
“Johanna had a truly positive and joyful soul. Wise beyond her years, she believed in kindness above everything and acted it out every day,” her sister said in the GoFundMe. “She had an almost otherworldly quality about her, never taking out a bad day on another and always ready and willing to help out those she cared about and strangers alike.”
Her other sister, Abigail Pascoe, said Johanna “was filled with sunshine and rainbows and so much love.”
Friends shared similar sentiments, calling the nurse “the kind of person you never forget” and “a ray of light.”
“Johanna you love everyone for who they are, no matter what,” one friend said. “You have a power to heal and to change. You have changed me forever, you have always had an impact on me, I have always been inspired by you.”
This story was originally published December 16, 2022 at 9:45 AM with the headline "20-year-old nurse killed by accused drunk driver on way to work, Wisconsin family says."