Family recalls final communication with deadly DUI crash victim: '1 kid was mid-sentence when line cut off'
Murder charges filed in crash that killed 4
Two people, including former CHP officers, have been charged following a deadly crash on the 605 Freeway last summer.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. - Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has charged the former California Highway Patrol officer and an alleged drunk driver with a charge that could get them life in prison if found guilty — second-degree murder.
Prosecutors allege that on July 21, 2025, 23-year-old Juliana Hamori, her boyfriend Armand Del Campo, 24, and their friends, Jordan Partridge and Samantha Skocilic, were in a Nissan on the 605 Freeway near Downey.
Former CHP officer Angelo Rodriguez, 24 — who was fired after this incident — is suspected of driving his CHP unit 130 miles per hour without lights or a siren on and seemingly not on a call when he rear-ended the Nissan, leaving it disabled in the carpool lane.
The complaint alleges the officer pulled his vehicle over, turned off his radio, spent about three minutes in his car, checked the damage to his vehicle and drove off the freeway, leaving the Nissan unattended with the four young people still alive inside.
Hamori's aunt Kathy Stickel says they were texting and calling family members, saying they had been involved in a crash but were OK and had been told to wait for authorities to show up.
"One kid was mid-sentence when the line cut off," Stickel said.
That's when a second vehicle, driven by 27-year-old Iris Salmeron, smashed into the Nissan, according to the complaint, at 110 miles per hour. The Nissan exploded into flames, killing the four friends.
Investigators say Salmeron was driving while intoxicated. Both she and Rodriguez have been arrested, are being held on $4 million bail and are expected to be in court tomorrow for their arraignments.
Families of the victims are grateful the DA is filing second-degree murder charges against both. They claim that CHP officials did not acknowledge the involvement of one of their units until they had to. Rodriguez, according to the complaint, never told dispatchers he had been involved in the crash, but a police report obtained by family members mentioned the damage to his unit.
FOX 11 reached out to CHP in the wake of Rodriguez's new charges and the department issued the following statement:
"CHP investigators completed a comprehensive crash investigation and subsequent criminal investigation, and the facts of the case were presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, which recommended criminal charges. While we cannot comment further, we extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones affected by this heartbreaking event. Any loss of life on California’s roadways is a profound tragedy."