Julie Maldonado Obituary, Death – The daughter of a Texas woman is heartbroken after her mother was killed in a motorcycle accident involving a suspected drunk driver. Investigators believe the driver was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
Julie Maldonado, 43, and her boyfriend, Damien Espinoza, were returning home after attending a motorcycle gathering with friends on Friday night. The couple had stopped at a red light in Arlington and were conversing via intercom, as reported by WFAA.
Espinoza recounted their last moments together, saying, “As she was taking off, she was like, ‘I love you.’ A second and a half, not even a second later, she wasn’t here.”
According to the police, 22-year-old Kenneth Polk ran the red light, striking Maldonado before fleeing the scene. He was subsequently arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter and hit-and-run resulting in death.
Maldonado, who was a mother of three, succumbed to her injuries at the hospital on Saturday. Her daughter, Yarielis Vazquez, set up a GoFundMe page in her memory.
Vazquez shared her pain on the fundraising page, writing, “She was having the time of her life on her bike when a drunk driver took her from us. She was a force, a powerful soul. I know people always say the cheesy ‘her smile lit up a room,’ but hers actually did. My heart aches to know me and my brothers will never feel her warm embrace again.”
Vazquez emphasized her mother’s vibrant personality and the impact of her loss, stating, “She was a force. She was powerful. This won’t go down silently. Everybody’s gonna know Julie Maldonado. They’re gonna know her name. They’re gonna know what happened to her, and they’re gonna know to be better because of what happened to her.”
Vazquez added that what brings some solace to her and her brothers is knowing that their mother died doing something she loved—riding her motorcycle.
Kenneth Polk is currently being held on bonds totaling $450,000, according to jail records.