Mother of girl killed by MS-13 fatally struck by SUV before memorial service

President Donald Trump speaks alongside Evelyn Rodriguez (L), whose daughter was killed by MS-13 gang members.
(Image credit: Saul Loeb/Getty Images)

Evelyn Rodriguez, whose 16-year-old daughter Kayla Cuevas was murdered by members of the MS-13 gang two years ago, was fatally struck by an SUV Friday after an altercation with the driver shortly before an anniversary memorial service for her daughter's death.

Rodriguez was preparing for a candlelight vigil when she was killed; the driver of the SUV called 911, and an investigation is ongoing. The SUV's driver has not been arrested at this time.

After her daughter's death, Rodriguez became a prominent advocate for victims of gang violence. "It's a fight that I have to continue to make sure all communities are safe," she said the day before her death.

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To honor her advocacy work, Rodriguez was among President Trump's invited guests for the State of the Union address in January. "My thoughts and prayers are with Evelyn Rodriguez this evening, along with her family and friends," Trump tweeted Friday night.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.