Suspect in hit and run that killed two cousins 5 months ago arrested at US border
Family seeks closure as deadly hit-and-run suspect remains on the loose
Police believe the man responsible for the death of two cousins is in Mexico.
SEATTLE - The Washington State Patrol says Antonio Lopez was arrested on Sunday, July 30 as he reentered the United States from Mexico.
He was booked into the San Diego County Jail on the warrant issued in King County and is awaiting extradition back to Washington state to face charges.
Lopez had been on the run since two cousins were killed in a hit-and-run, a third man hurt badly.
Detectives identified the 21-year-old as the suspect.
Skyler Thornton and Terrell Aaron's mother and aunt, Tomiko Strothers, spoke to FOX 13 about the tremendous pain she and her entire family's been left with as detectives continue to search for the man responsible.
"It’s hard, I just miss them so much," Stothers said.
Her home, doesn’t feel the same; it hasn’t for the last two months.
"I'm without my son, without my nephew; I'm just trying to learn how to live," Strothers said. "I don't know what to need, I forget I need to eat because I don't care. I just want the pain to go away."
But grief, takes time. A pain she’s learning to live with.
Right now, she’s confined to her safe space where Skyler and Terrell played board games and helped her with puzzles; a home full of memories.
"A lot of love here," Strothers said as she walked around their room.
The 'boys' as she calls them were robbed of their lives, gone instantly. Their Chevy was rear ended on a cold icy night on I-5 after they were involved in a minor crash.
Investigators say Manuel Avitia, 22, was driving his Mercedes southbound on I-5. Avita was near the entrance ramp from the West Seattle Bridge when detectives say the cousin's Chevy behind him slid on the icy road and hit him. Officials say both cars spun and ended up in the HOV and lane. Reports say no one was hurt in that crash.
"I've been preparing them their whole lives to live life without me, never even the thought of what would I ever do without them," Strothers said.
Til this day, Tomiko hasn’t been on this stretch of I-5 where her boys lost their lives.
Thornton and Aaron were headed home when WSP says Lopez barreled his girlfriend’s Jeep into the back of their Chevy.
"To just leave a human being but two human beings for dead," Strothers said.
Their chevy slammed into Avita's Mercedes, he was tossed onto the road with severe injuries including a head injury, fractured ribs and a lacerated liver.
Witnesses said they saw Lopez and his girlfriend and asked them to wait for officials yet only left their tracks behind after they fled.
"I feel like we're the victims; they're not here to tell the story but we're left to live with this," Strothers said.
A void she says will never be replaced.
Detectives say Lopez only got behind the wheel after his girlfriend, who they say was drunk at the time, asked him to pick her up from a party in the University Village area.
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Docs: Suspect wanted for deadly I-5 hit-and-run had previously killed teen in similar crash
A 21-year-old has been charged with vehicular homicide for allegedly crashing into two cars and killing two people on I-5 in Seattle before running away from the scene.
Witnesses say Lopez was speeding, investigators determined he was driving over 70 miles per hour.
This isn’t Lopez’s first hit-and-run. Detectives say he killed a teen six years ago in another a hit-and-run.
"Why would she even hand over the keys to someone that doesn't have a driver's license, is not insured, but most than anything that has done this before, taking a life behind the wheel," Strothers said.
Charging documents show for years Lopez has been driving without a driver’s license or insurance and speeding more than 20 miles over the limit.
WSP says Lopez also drove on the shoulder of a road killing a teen six year ago, in 2017, another hit-and-run.
"Is this how he wants his legacy to be? Is this what he wants to be known for? Being a coward?," Strothers said.
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2 killed in I-5 car crash, state troopers seek suspects who fled scene
A car crash on I-5 in Seattle left two dead and one critically injured, and troopers are now looking for two people who were seen running from the scene.
The 21-year-old vanished. Detectives believe he’s in Mexico.
Justice, nowhere in sight for the mother and aunt who clings on to the Chevy’s key. One thing she knows is she doesn’t want to live with anger.
"Stand up for whatever you do, whether it be right and wrong, but be accountable, give me an apology so that I can forgive you, I want to," Strothers said.
As she learns to live without her boys, all Strothers hopes for is closure.
"I just want one more hug, one more night, one more I love you, just one more," Strothers said.
Lopez is wanted for two counts of vehicular homicide, one count of vehicular assault and hit-and-run. Prosecutos have set bail at $250,000.
There’s a warrant out for his arrest but detectives need your help finding him.
Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound is offering a $1,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest.