Every evening, Sara Holmes was greeted by the joyful cries of “Mommy” as her two daughters eagerly ran to her, ready to share the stories of their day.
But on Nov. 2, their cherished routine was forever interrupted when the 37-year-old Bradenton woman never made it home.
“Unfair isn’t even a good enough word to describe this. It’s just not right,” Sara’s mother, Leesa Holmes, said.
Sara and her boyfriend, Sergio Larcher De Brito, were on their way home from work that night when they had the green turn arrow at 43rd Street and Cortez Road. The Bradenton Police Department says it was around 10:40 p.m. when 25-year-old Cesar Navarrete ran a red light , slamming into the passenger’s side of the couple’s SUV.
Larcher De Brito was badly shaken up from the crash but survived. Sara did not. They were one block away from home.
Police arrested Navarrete on charges of DUI manslaughter and driving with a suspended license after detectives say an investigation revealed he had a blood alcohol concentration of .289, nearly four times the legal limit.