Holiday celebration turns tragic

Twelve-year-old Erika Fernandez this morning learned the terrible truth about a Fourth of July tragedy that injured her and killed her grandmother and aunt.

"She took it pretty bad," Ramon Quintanilla, 21, said as he continued to work through the shock of the death of his mother, Blanca Machado, 52, and sister-in-law, Norma Machado, 24, over the weekend.

Erika Fernandez has been hospitalized since being struck by a pickup truck -- the same vehicle that claimed the lives of two of her closest relatives -- as the family prepared to set off fireworks to celebrate Independence Day.

The young girl, who is listed in fair condition at University Medical Center, didn't know until this morning that anyone had been killed.

The family thought it best to wait until she became stronger so that the shock would not be as great.

Metro Police say drunken driving may have played a part in the truck jumping a curb and killing the two women and injuring the child at the northeastern Las Vegas residence Sunday around 8:30 p.m.

"We were getting ready to set off fireworks. Everyone was laughing and talking and getting ready," Quintanilla said this morning as he sat on a sofa in the spotless living room his mother had taken so much pride in keeping clean.

In the blink of an eye the lives of those in the closely knit family were changed forever.

Police said a drunken driver rounded a corner on White Horse Street, turned west on Tillamook Avenue and drove up the south sidewalk and into the yard at 4119 Tillamook Ave., hitting the three pedestrians.

Blanca Machado died at the accident scene. Her daughter-in-law, Norma Machado, and her granddaughter, Erika Fernandez, were taken to UMC and rushed into surgery. Machado later died.

Antonio Aguayo, 29, has been charged with three counts of DUI resulting in substantial harm or death, Metro Police said.

After hitting the victims, the pickup hit a parked car and returned to the roadway before sliding to a stop at the corner of Tillamook and Longfellow Street, police said.

Aguayo was held by neighbors until police arrived and took him into custody.

"We heard he lives in the neighborhood," Quintanilla said. "I have seen the truck in the neighborhood."

Quintanilla, a kitchen worker at the Barbary Coast, lived with his mother and stepfather, Carlos Machado, at the time of the accident.

He described his mother as a woman devoted to her family, which included four children -- all of whom live at home or nearby. In addition to Quintanilla, there are Noe, 27, husband of Norma; Carlos, 19, and Blanca Fernandez, 32, mother of four children, including Erika.

Blanca, who shares her mother's name, works for the MGM Grand.

Every morning about 8 a.m., Quintanilla said, his mother would go to Blanca's home down the street, clean the house and take the children to school so that Blanca could go to work.

"She would take the kids to school and then come back here and take care of her house," Quintanilla said.

He said his mother immigrated to California 22 years ago and moved to Las Vegas four years ago.

Her life centered around her family and her church.

"She was a born-again Christian," Quintanilla said.

She, Norma and Erika had returned from church shortly before the accident.

"She cared about everybody," Quintanilla said.

Services were pending this morning.

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