Cholla Senior Hit By Car Dies

Marcela Marcial, Beat Investigator - Featured Athlete

17-year-old Joana Sendino, a senior who attended Cholla High School, died when hit by a truck while crossing the street on February 28, 2019.

According to KOLDnews, Sendino was struck by a truck while she was crossing Silverlake Road on the west side of Tucson. She stepped into the road after a large truck passed by, but didn’t see the other truck behind it. Police believe that the driver was speeding and wasn’t looking towards the road while driving. Sendino was not in a crosswalk.

Joana was born with muscular disability. It limited how fast she can walk so it was always a challenge crossing the street every morning to get to school in time.

From GoFundMe

On Friday, family members and friends gathered up at a small memorial on Thursday night to say one final good-bye to Joana Sendino. Friday night people who were really close to Joana left flowers and candles at the scene.

“It was a long walk, it would take about thirty minutes to get here and then she would still have to cross this street to get to the bus to take to school,” said her older sister in a interview. She then continued with, “She was an innocent, 17-year-old little girl, how many more people does this have to happen to?”

The Sendino family are trying their best to have a crosswalk constructed there because Joana’s life is not the first to be taken crossing that road. Joana’s family created a GoFundMe account and asked if people could help donate to help pay funeral expenses.