Phoenix family mourns 18-year-old killed in alleged freeway road rage shooting
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — A family is turning their grief into a plea for justice after Brittany Gutierrez-Bugarin’s life was cut short Tuesday morning following an alleged road rage dispute on Interstate 10 near 91st Avenue. Her family is understandably angry, but they’re also full of pain, knowing the person responsible is still out there. “Her life was just taken from us too soon by an angry person,” said her sister Alexa Torres.
She remembers her 18-year-old little sister as someone she looked up to. “She was very independent. She had so much going on for her. She was truly inspiring,” she said.
Her family said Gutierrez-Bugarin had dreams of becoming an aesthetician after graduating high school. Unfortunately, Gutierrez-Bugarin was never able to fulfill those dreams or her plans to travel the world. “I didn’t believe it. I never would’ve imagined the words that were going to come out of his mouth,” Torres said.
Torres recalls when she first heard the news from an officer on the scene. “I was in shock. I never ever planned to get a call, especially a call like that,” she said.
She said Gutierrez-Bugarin’s boyfriend was driving near the offramp of I-10 and 91st Avenue early Tuesday morning. Torres said he was the one who called 911 after she was shot by someone in another car. “He tried to help her and do life-saving measures on her, but when they got to the hospital, it was too late,” she said.
The shooter drove off and hasn’t been caught. The Department of Public Safety is searching for a silver or gray Chrysler 200. “It makes me very angry. I was super angry because that’s not fair,” Torres said.
Torres lost her baby sister, and their mom, Esmeralda, lost someone she considered her best friend and life partner. “Whatever it is, whatever the situation is, no matter how angry you are, you don’t have the right to take somebody’s life away,” said Torres.
To donate, the family’s business Maskadores Taco Shop on Thomas Road in Phoenix is accepting cash donations. They also created a GoFundMe, where they are also collecting donations for funeral expenses.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2023 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
