Mom of 3 killed in crash with accused drunk driver, CA cops say. ‘Hole in our hearts’
For all their lives, three Californians have been showered in their mother’s relentless love.
But now, after a DUI crash in Anaheim left their 56-year-old mother, Suzanne Ruth Fierro, dead, they are “left with a hole in our hearts,” the woman’s children wrote on a GoFundMe page.
“Still can’t believe that her infectious laughter will never fill another room,” the GoFundMe page says. “We will never hear her abundant ‘I love You’s’ through the phone, and will never feel her loving arms around us ever again.”
Officers got a call about a collision at an Anaheim intersection at approximately 10 p.m. on Feb. 16, the Anaheim Police Department said in a Facebook post.
When they arrived, officers found the Long Beach woman trapped inside her SUV, police said.
Rescuers extracted Fierro and took her to a hospital, where she died from her injuries about an hour after the collision, police said.
At the time of the crash, the single mother was about a mile from her place of employment, her children told KCAL.
“I just wish this didn’t happen,” Fierro’s youngest daughter, Juliette Salamanca, told the outlet. “I wish I could have stopped her for just five minutes.”
The driver of the other car, Samantha Farris, 29, was also taken to a hospital, according to police.
Through investigation, police said they determined Farris made a left turn in front of Fierro at the intersection.
Witnesses told police that Farris was possibly drinking alcohol at a business nearby “just before the collision.”
Police said it was determined “there was probable cause to believe” that Farris was driving intoxicated at the time of the crash.
Once she was cleared to leave the hospital, Farris was arrested and booked into jail on multiple counts, including felony driving under the influence and gross vehicular manslaughter, according to police.
Farris was released from custody Feb. 17 after posting bail, police said.
McClatchy News reached out to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office on Feb. 20 and was awaiting a response on formal charges.
A friend on Facebook described Fierro as “a beautiful mom, daughter, sister and friend.”
“I was able to get to know her and she just had this beautiful aura,” the friend wrote. “She was kind, funny and loved her children so much.”
And, even after Fierro’s death, it’s her love that’s stuck with her children.
“She taught us that the most important thing above all else is to love each other, and she never went a day without telling us how much she loved us,” Fierro’s other daughter, Noelle Reicherts, told KABC.
Police said an investigation is ongoing.
This story was originally published February 20, 2025 at 11:45 AM with the headline "Mom of 3 killed in crash with accused drunk driver, CA cops say. ‘Hole in our hearts’."
