ARIZONA

DPS seeks road-rage driver in 1-17 crash that killed woman

Judson Tomaiko
The Republic | azcentral.com

Department of Public Safety officials are looking for a road-rage driver that they say forced another motorist off Interstate 17 near Sunset Point, resulting in a crash that would claim her life two weeks later.

Traffic

Sonya Teresa Coronado, 36, was driving a silver Toyota SUV at about 1:15 p.m. April 10 when a man in a silver single-cab pickup truck pulled up beside her on northbound I-17, according to a statement from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

Witnesses told police the man made an obscene hand gesture and cut into Coronado's lane, forcing her to take evasive maneuvers to avoid being hit.

Coronado's SUV flipped multiple times and she suffered severe brain trauma, the county attorney's statement said. She was taken by helicopter to John C. Lincoln North Mountain Hospital, where she died on April 24.

Officials said Coronado had become engaged two weeks earlier and was on her way to meet her fiancé for the weekend when the crash occurred.

"We are devastated by the tragic loss of this young woman whose bright spirit touched many hearts and who had so much to look forward to," County Attorney Bill Montgomery said in a statement issued Monday. Coronado was a legal support specialist for the county prosecutor's office.

Arizona DPS is investigating the case and is urging anyone with information to call 602-223-2212.