Tuesday, May 21, 2013

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Funeral services being planned for two killed in Brownsville car fire
Posted: 06.25.2012 at 6:17 PM
Daisy Barrera

Daisy is a reporter for Action 4 News.

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Victim: Cassandra Sierra
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Family members are planning the funeral two people killed over the weekend in Brownsville while the suspect remains at large.

Cassandra Sierra and Rodolfo Ibañez lost their lives over the weekend after their car got rammed by an SUV and caught on fire.

Brownsville police said suspect Pedro Solitaire may currently be using a 2006 white Jeep to get around.

Solitaire is wanted on two counts of aggravated manslaughter for the deaths.

The crash happened around 2:30 a.m. Satruday.

Solitaire was driving a black Cadillac SUV and deliberately hit a red Pontiac Grand Am with Sierra and Ibañez inside.

The impact sent both vehicles crashing into a light pole catching both vehicles fire.

Friends of Sierra and Ibañez held a fundraiser car wash in Brownsville on Monday to help their families pay for funeral expenses.

They said the two were in the vehicle with two others including Sierra's sister,  who was also Ibañez's girlfriend.

A motive for the deliberate car crash is not clear but Sierra and Ibañez were on their way to a WalMart store when the fatal crash happened.
           
Family friend Maria Elena Saldaña spoke to Action 4 News.

"Nobody thinks that just in the blink of an eye someone is going to disappear from our lives and their family,” Saldaña said. “Well of course they're in mourning they're taking it really hard right now...They were both good people.”

Ibañez worked at a McDonalds restaurant on South Padre Island

Sierra was studying cosmetology. About 40 of her classmates helped with the carwash today.

Funeral arrangements are pending but a joint viewing for both victims will be held on Tuesday in San Benito.

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