Family members say they’re traumatized after a car slammed into the tent where they were celebrating their niece’s birthday in Bladensburg, Maryland, killing their relative and injuring many others.
It happened Saturday night on 56th Avenue.
“We were all saying goodbye to go home. In a matter of seconds all of that was destroyed,” said Alex Gutierrez.
Gutierrez said he about to leave his 6-year-old niece’s birthday party in when a car slammed into the tent, killing his cousin, Ashley Hernandez Gutierrez. Thirteen others were hurt, including his own baby daughter.
“Very fast. It was just screeching down the street, and then a big bang. Literally, when I heard the tires, I looked towards the street and then I just see the car plow right through the tent,” he said.
Surveillance video from a nearby business shows the car riding in reverse on Annapolis Road before crashing into the tent where the family was celebrating.
That’s when Gutierrez says the horror set in.
“It was just complete chaos. And the smell of burning, of burning tires — it’s a smell that’s not going to go away for me,” he said.
He and several others rushed to help. A neighbor grabbed a jack to lift the car.
“You start seeing people under the car. Family members trapped underneath trying to get out,” Gutierrez said.
Sunday Joseph, 66, of D.C., was the driver, Bladensburg police said. He faces negligent manslaughter and other charges. Investigators said they’re working to determine whether he was speeding or under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, as some witnesses suspected.
“I got an eye on him and he just didn’t seem, he just didn’t seem like he was in his right mind state,” Gutierrez said. “I recollect the tires still, still running as if he was trying to get away, but there was people underneath, tables and chairs and debris all over. There was no way for him to escape.”
“I see the car in the middle of the front yard and the first person I see was my sister and all I could do was scream,” said Karina Gutierrez, another cousin.
She said the horror of that night will impact them forever, especially the children.
“This is something that, you know, is traumatizing. It’s mentally, it’s not OK,” she said.
Both cousins described Hernandez Gutierrez as an amazing person and mother.
“She was a loveable, always bubbly. She loved to laugh and dance,” Karina Gutierrez said.
“She adored her family and she was adored right back. Her life was full of promise, beauty and love. It was stolen from us,” Alex Gutierrez said.
During Joseph’s first court appearance on Wednesday, a judge said he was a danger to the community and rued he be held in jail without bond.
Joseph faces eight charges, including one felony and seven misdemeanors. Two traffic charges against him were dropped.
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