3rd victim dies from injuries in 12-car crash, prosecutors say

A third victim in a 12-vehicle crash has died, prosecutors said Thursday morning.

Vanessa Lainez Vasquez, 25, had been in a medically induced coma following the Nov. 18 crash and succumbed to her injuries Thursday, Chief Deputy District Attorney Nicholas Portz said before a court appearance for the suspect in the case.

Jose Gutierrez, 19, already faces two counts of open murder as well as counts of attempted murder and reckless driving and a count of battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm in connection with the crash, according to court records.

Gutierrez’s pregnant girlfriend, Adilene Duran Rincon, 20, and a driver from another vehicle, Edward Garcia, 38, died at the scene on West Cheyenne Avenue near North Jones Boulevard, according to Gutierrez’s arrest report. Two others, Jose Pena-Dominguez and his passenger, Lainez Vasquez, were critically injured in the collision, police said at the time.

“We now have three dead as a result of the defendant’s deliberate actions,” the prosecutor said.

It was not immediately clear if Gutierrez would face a third murder charge.

During the Thursday hearing, defense attorney Thomas Moskal attempted to convince District Judge Michelle Leavitt to set bail for Gutierrez after a justice of the peace ordered the defendant held without bail.

Leavitt denied Moskal’s request.

Police said Gutierrez was driving an Infiniti G37 at “a high rate of speed” and did not slow down before he hit lines of vehicles stopped for a red light. Witnesses told police the Infiniti appeared to be traveling around 100 mph in a 45 mph zone.

Moskal has suggested the crash could have been triggered by his client suffering a seizure while driving.

Portz said nothing indicated Gutierrez had a seizure at the time and played video of the crash in court, which Gutierrez watched intently.

The prosecutor said Gutierrez accelerated as he approached the crash site, eventually reaching 110 mph.

“He drives straight into a crowd of parked cars at a red light and the end result of that deliberate decision, judge, is just as obvious … as pointing a gun at someone’s head and making the decision to pull the trigger,” Portz told Leavitt.

In April, Portz said police responded to a domestic violence incident between Gutierrez and Duran Rincon.

“She calls 911, she’s in the background, she’s crying, not talking to the 911 operator, and you can hear the defendant in the background,” said the prosecutor. “He’s calling her a h-, a b——, things like that.”

Gutierrez attempted to fight police responding to the call and was arrested, Portz said.

When Duran Rincon’s mother discussed the prior event with detectives, she said she received a call from her daughter, who was in a car with Gutierrez, according to the prosecutor.

The victim told her mother, “Mom, he’s driving fast,” before the phone hung up, said Portz.

“He has this M.O., when he’s intimidating his domestic violence victim, of driving in a highly dangerous and reckless manner,” the prosecutor argued.

Following the hearing, Moskal said that the alleged call about Gutierrez driving fast predated the crash by a long time.

Video footage did not prove an intent to kill, he told the judge.

“The state’s theory is that he is attempting to kill not only his fiancee, not only his unborn child, but also himself,” Moskal said.

Duran Rincon’s mother Gabriela Rincon said after court that she hopes to get answers about what happened the day of the crash.

“I just want my daughter back,” Rincon said. “That’s it. But I know I can’t get her back.”

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.