Friends of a 33-year-old woman killed in a Koreatown car crash are remembering her as someone who put other people before herself, while also calling for changes at the intersection where she died.
Ittai Arenas Rodriguez died Friday, Aug. 28 near 8th Street and Ardmore Avenue while making a food delivery. The driver of the other vehicle was booked on suspicion of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Her bail was set at $50,000.
Rodriguez’s friends talked about her at a recent fundraiser in Koreatown, where they cooked rice, vegetables and Mexican jerk chicken for Ittai’s family.
“My friend was a lovely friend. She cared about everybody. She always made sure she put everybody first before her,” said Natali Martinez, 23, who met Rodriguez in culinary school.
Rodriguez recently graduated from the prep cook program at the Hospitality Training Academy of Los Angeles. She graduated from culinary school on Aug. 14 and was preparing to start a new job, Martinez said. She was also a mother of two girls.
“But in reality, she was a mother of a lot, because I felt as if she was like a mom to me,” Martinez said.
The 8th Street corridor is part of the city’s High-Injury Network (HIN), which identifies streets with high concentrations of deadly and severe-injury crashes. LADOT’s latest data shows that the network makes up 7.5% of the city’s roadway network and accounts for roughly 70% of deaths and severe injuries involving pedestrians.
Martinez said she would like to see better lighting and measures to slow drivers near the intersection where Rodriguez was killed.
“I would like to see more light poles, at least a light at the intersection and a speed limit zone or even a bump before coming down,” she said.
The crash happened shortly after 12:30 a.m. Aug. 28, according to police. Rodriguez was pronounced dead at the scene. The other driver was hospitalized after the crash and later booked on the felony vehicular manslaughter charge. LAPD said the driver was released on bond at 12:26 p.m. Aug. 28. The driver is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, Sept. 30 at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse.
Martinez said Rodriguez was the first person to approach her when she started culinary school and didn’t know anyone.
“I didn’t know her at all. I didn’t know anybody at all, and she was the first person to come up to me to ask me how I’m doing, to ask me what’s my name,” Martinez said. “She was the first one to actually recognize me in a room full of people, and I feel like that’s a lot.”
Martinez said Rodriguez helped her through depression and recently threw her a birthday party at her home.
“She had bought me a cake. She had made food for me. She had opened her house to strangers that she didn’t even know. She didn’t have to do none of that for me,” Martinez said through tears.
Jessica Almanza, 31, knew Rodriguez for five years. She described Rodriguez as loving, understanding and motivated by her faith.
“She believed a lot in God, and wanted the best for each and every one,” Almanza said. “Once we stopped believing in ourselves, she helped us.”
Almanza said she spoke with Rodriguez a few days before the crash.
“I literally talked to her that Wednesday, and then I found out she passed away on Friday, and that killed me. My heart dropped,” Almanza said.
Mo Ochoa, 40, met Rodriguez five or six weeks earlier. They met through culinary school and kept in touch through a group chat and he spoke with Rodriguez two days before the crash.
“She was like a little star. She wanted to do everything,” Ochoa said.
Ochoa said Rodriguez was a go-getter who wanted to make something of her life.
“She wanted to do things in life, and I admired that about her,” Ochoa said.
