Deadly rollover crash victim’s family speaks to ABC-7
A devastating day for several El Paso families. Three El Paso men who worked at the West Texas Detention Facility are dead.
The Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Office told ABC-7 they were riding in an SUV with two other men. The vehicle rolled near Sierra Blanca, Texas, as the men were on their way back home. The two who survived, including the driver, are recovering at Del Sol Medical Center.
The family of 23-year-old Sergeant Mckenzi Taylor spoke with ABC-7 because they want to honor his memory. Taylor was an only child who graduated from Sierra Blanca High School, but he also had a son himself.
Taylor was supposed to be celebrating his 24th birthday this May with his parents, his long-time girlfriend, and his son. Instead, he died in a rollover crash near Sierra Blanca Thursday morning, while traveling back to El Paso with four other coworkers from the West Texas Detention Facility.
“I just miss him so much. I wish he was here personally telling us, ‘Hey, I got you guys. It’s not true,'” Taylor’s girlfriend, Monica Rodriguez, said.
As an only child, Taylor was close to his mother and greeted his parents when he got home from his 12 hour work shifts. Rodriguez had been dating Taylor for four years and had a feeling something was wrong before she got the news.
Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Department said Taylor, his close friend 25-year-old Rudy Arana and 20-year-old Alan Pena died at the scene. All three were not wearing seat belts and were ejected from the vehicle, a 2005 chevy suburban.
“I just kept thinking babe please, let it not be you. Your son needs you, we need you. I can’t believe this. I’m still in shock right now. This can’t be true, it feels like a nightmare,” Rodriguez said while holding back tears.
The driver, George Gomez-Olague, was behind the wheel. Gomez-Olague and another man ejected, 25-year-old Christopher Sierra, were taken to Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso.
As for Taylor’s family, all they can do is look at photos and remember all the good times they shared together. They said he loved his job and wanted to be a U.S. Marshal some day.
