Dec. 15, 2022 5p; Updated at 7:30p to add reference to driving condition and bald tires
(WGTD)---A Gateway Technical College student who graduated just last week from the school's nursing program has been identified as the woman who was killed in a drunk driving crash in Caledonia earlier this week.
20-year-old Johanna Pascoe was on her way to St. Luke's Hospital in Milwaukee where she worked as an extern in the hospital's Neuro-ICU. According to a gofundme account, Pascoe was planning to further her education and obtain a BA degree in nursing at UW-Milwaukee.
According to a criminal complaint, a car driven by 21-year-old Ernesto Regalado Rodriguez crossed the centerline on St. Hwy. 32 and struck's Pascoe's vehicle. She was taken to the hospital in critical condition, placed on life support and died the next day.
The defendant, who wasn't seriously injured, was administered a preliminary breath test which measured blood-alcohol content over twice the legal limit.
He was charged Thursday with Homicide by Intoxicated Use of a Motor Vehicle, Endangering Safety and driving without a license. Regalado Rodriguez was in the country illegally and as such was not eligible for a Wisconsin driver's license. The endangering safety charge stems from another driver having to veer off the road seconds before the fatal crash in order to avoid being struck.
The complaint ads that the road was wet at the time of the crash, and that the tires on the suspect's vehicle were "completely bald."
The gofundme page was launched by the eldest sister of the victim who says she will use the money to pay for a memorial service. The site raised more than three times its $5,000 goal.
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