A woman described by friends as a "superstar" has been killed as a result of a road rage incident in Mission Beach, San Diego, according to CBS8 News. Maruta Gardner, 69, was a community activist who had also served as principal at Mission Bay High School, according to the Times of San Diego.
Gardner had been cleaning up graffiti on Friday afternoon in Mission Beach when she was hit by a black Toyota Corolla, seemingly the result of a road rage altercation between the driver and another motorist, according to the Times of San Diego. Gardner was hospitalized with severe injuries including a skull fracture but was reported by friends and family to have passed away on Saturday afternoon.
The driver of the vehicle was identified a 23-year-old Jonathan Domingo Garcia, who has been booked on charges of vehicular manslaughter, DUI and hit and run, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Police arrested Garcia after he stopped briefly in a parking lot after hitting Gardner and then attempted to drive away. The other motorist involved in the road rage-inducing argument that preceded Gardner's death remains unidentified. It is suspected that Garcia may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the incident.
Gardner was well-loved in her community, with San Diego City Council recently honoring her contributions to the area by declaring Nov. 3 "Maruta Gardner Day," according to the Los Angeles Times. She is mourned by a great number of friends and family, with neighbors describing her as a "wonderful person" who has been "a pillar of the community for a long, long, long time," according to NBC San Diego.
"You don't replace someone like Maruta. There's nobody that can step up," her friend and neighbor Mike Hornung told NBC. "This is someone the community needs... We need her down here. We love her when she's here. She's done so much. It's just a needless accident."
