A 73-year-old woman was killed in her sleep when a suspect fleeing a police pursuit crashed into the California home where she was staying. Carla Zepeda was house-sitting at a friend's home on Tuxford Lane when the crash happened in the middle of the night, turning an ordinary evening into a tragedy for her family.
According to the account of the crash, the car came from the direction of the street and tore through the property, crashing through the front yard, into a boulder and a tree that caught fire, and then through the wall of the room where Zepeda was sleeping. The home was left boarded up in the aftermath.
The driver, 20-year-old Zachariah Noble, was arrested following a California Highway Patrol pursuit. He was booked on charges of second-degree murder, driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license, in connection with the deadly crash.
What has made the loss especially painful for the family is what Zepeda had been planning to do. Her son, Steve Cox, was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease about a year and a half to two years ago, and when he told his mother what was happening, she offered him one of her own kidneys. That gift of life from mother to son was taken away by the crash.
Cox described his mother as kind and gentle and nice to everybody. He said she loved to travel, had several camping trailers, and had worked for Stanislaus County for 25 years before retiring. He remembered her as a grandmother who loved life and the people in it, and someone who would help anyone who needed it, including him.
Asked about the pursuit through a residential neighborhood, the California Highway Patrol pointed to its online policy, which states that officers are required to balance the risks of a pursuit to the public. Cox said he did not want to blame the police for doing their job, saying it is their job to take people like Noble off the streets. The family is still working on a memorial service, and Cox said he remains hopeful that he will be able to receive the kidney donation he needs.