WEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A memorial honoring the victims of a drunk driving wreck has been destroyed.
It’s the not first disturbing display of vandalism at this site.
And the father of one of the victims has said enough is enough.
“They didn’t do anything to you. Come on, really?” said Andres Medina. “All they did was die that day, that moment, that second. That’s all they did.”
Medina stood inches away from the memorial that honors his daughter’s life, 21-year-old Yuhlia Barzaga, as well as 22-year-old Christian Mohip, 21-year-old Andres Zacarias and 21-year-old Jenser Salazar.
“It just hurts, every time,” said Medina.
It’s a painful reminder about what happened on New Year’s Day 2021.
Being there isn’t easy.
Medina expressed his hurt watching a cell video, adding this is the fourth time it’s happened since the deadly crash.
“They vandalized it three times last year, and then they started doing it again this year already,” said Medina.
No one knows yet whether the same person is behind this.
Videos have been posted on social media.
The most recent one shows a person stomping on pictures of the four people who died that morning.
“I do care that we don’t have a place to come in peace without thinking, ‘Oh, my God, this is so beautiful, it’s probably going to get trashed as soon as we leave,”” said Medina.
Detectives arrested and charged Alex Garcia for the deadly crash.
At the time, he was 16.
Authorities said Garcia was speeding and had marijuana and alcohol in his system when he slammed into the other car.
“The moment you get behind a wheel with drinks, 16 years old, marijuana in your system, going 111 miles an hour in a local street,” said Medina, “accidents do happen. That was not an accident.”
On Tuesday, Medina had visited the memorial located on West Flagler Street and Northwest 79th Avenue.
His focus is on honoring his daughter and her three friends.
“It does hurt, though, because they don’t deserve it. They had, all four of them, were great kids, and they had a full life ahead of them,” said Medina.
Miami-Dade Police officers have a copy of the video of this year’s vandalism and are investigating.
Although Medina can’t help but wonder if friends of the drunk driver are responsible.
“He killed them. They didn’t kill you. You got it backwards,” said Medina.
Miami-Dade Police have not released any leads on who keeps destroying this memorial, but Garcia remains behinds bars.
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