DENVER — Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, the semitruck driver accused of causing a deadly crash on Interstate 70 in Lakewood in April, says he’ll meet with any of the victims and their loved ones to answer questions.
FOX31 sat down with one victim’s widow to learn what questions she wants answered.
Aguilera-Mederos is facing 41 counts, including vehicular homicide, in the crash and explosion left four people dead, six seriously injured and more than 20 vehicles incinerated.
William Bailey, a 67-year-old from Arvada, died in the crash.
Bailey’s widow, Gage Evans, now goes to therapy weekly just to make it out of bed.
“Everything was based around what we wanted to do together,” Evans said. “My life is a real mess right now. It’s all what I can do to function.”
The couple of nearly 30 years planned to retire in together this year.
Instead of carrying out travel plans with the love of her life, Evans is learning to live again on her own because of that fateful day on I-70.
“They had to get his records from the dentist,” Evans said, telling FOX31 how it took two days to confirm her husband was a victim in the crash.
On Tuesday, Aguilera-Mederos’ attorney offered the victims’ families the opportunity to ask him anything they would like to before the trial begins.
“I can’t think that he would be able to say anything to me that would give me closure or whatever he wants,” Evans said, “It feels like it would be more for him than it would be for me.”
FOX31 asked Evans what question, if any, she would want answered.
“Why didn’t you use the runaway truck ramp?” she said.
Video shows Aguilera-Mederos’ semitruck speeding downhill toward the Denver area without using an available runaway truck ramp.
Nicole Fierro wrote this report.