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Vancouver, WA (KPTV) — A drunk driver is now facing a vehicular homicide charge, after hitting a man in Vancouver who later died from his injuries.
Vancouver police said Elvis Keplinger was hit and killed last Wednesday.
Police say the driver who hit him had a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit.
But Keplinger’s family has nothing but compassion for the suspect; they say they feel her pain.
“He would literally send us pictures saying on top of the world,” said Keplinger’s sister Brenda Bacon.
Family members told FOX 12 48-year-old Keplinger was at the height of his recovery.
“Very loving, very kind big heart,” Bacon said.
“We are just very proud of him,” his mom Socorro Lopez said.
His mom says he was supposed to be at his brother’s house when he was hit last week.
Instead, she thinks he had some sort of setback brought on by the holidays.
Vancouver police say Keplinger was jumping in and out of traffic when he was hit. He later died from his injuries.
“I can sleep better knowing that he’s at total peace right now,” Lopez said.
The driver, 23-year-old Ileta Simonov, appeared in court Monday on an upgraded charge of vehicular homicide.
Court documents show following the crash, Simonov had a blood alcohol level of .142, nearly twice the legal limit.
“That’s just a double tragedy, you know. Both parties were struggling with very, very similar issues and my heart goes out to the driver’s family as well,” Lopez said.
She says that’s what her son would have wanted.
“He had been on the road to recovery several times and each he bounced back but with greater understanding and sympathy for all the others who were similarly facing challenges,” Lopez said.
They say they wouldn’t wish those kinds of struggles on anyone and just hope that the court will be lenient.
FOX 12 spoke to Simonov’s dad on the phone.
He said his daughter is the sweetest girl you’ll ever meet and that everyone who loves her is shocked and saddened by what happened.
Police say she had a previous DUI arrest and was driving with a suspended license.
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