DUI driver, 45, charged with murder and feticide after she struck woman’s car in road rage incident

A woman has been charged with murder and feticide after she was found to be under the influence of two substances when she crashed and caused the death of a 38-week pregnant woman and her son.

Shannon Alvarez, 45, was arrested Friday for vehicular homicide and third-degree feticide after Jade Lewis, 22, and her unborn child were killed in a New Orleans road rage crash on January 30.

Louisiana police believe that after one of the drivers would not let the other merge around Williams Boulevard and West Esplanade Avenue, both vehicles started speeding down the road trying to block each other around 12.30pm.

But when Alvarez’s 2008 Toyota 4Runner clipped the front of Lewis’ 2008 Chevrolet Malibu, it caused the victim’s car to go off road and strike a utility pole on the 2400 block of West Esplanade Avenue.

Shannon Alvarez (left), 45, was arrested Friday for vehicular homicide and third-degree feticide. Jade Lewis, 22, and her unborn child, Mydas, were killed in a New Orleans road rage crash n January 30

Police believe that after one of the drivers would not let the other merge then Alvarez’s SUV clipped the front of Lewis’ car and each struck different poles

‘Someone wanted to get in the other lane, they get too close, someone blows their horn and then it escalates form there,’ Kenner Police Department spokesperson Lt. Michael Cunningham said. ‘Then the other driver doesn’t want to let somebody over. Witnesses are saying that’s what happened here.’

Afterwards Alvarez’s SUV fishtailed and also went off-road before striking another pole. Alvarez was treated for her injuries.

Lewis died at the scene and her unborn child didn’t survive.

Three weeks later Alvarez was arrested at her home in Kenner after toxicology tests shows dangerous substances were in her system. It’s unclear what those substances were.

It’s reported she faces other moving violations charges too.

Lewis was due to give birth February 5 and was mother to a two-year-old boy named Mars.

Her boyfriend said their unborn child would’ve been named Mydas and opened up about how like his son, he too lost his mother at a young age.

Alvarez’s SUV fishtailed and also went off-road before striking another pole. Alvarez was treated for her injuries

Lewis’ boyfriend Marcus Villavasso told WDSU earlier this month: ‘I lost my mother as a kid, as a teenager. I feel like she [Lewis] somewhat filled a void for me; my kid that I was supposed to meet next week would’ve been my second one with her’

‘Devastation. My heart just broke. I feel like my soul was ripped out of my body,’ boyfriend Marcus Villavasso told WDSU earlier this month. ‘I lost my mother as a kid, as a teenager. I feel like she [Lewis] somewhat filled a void for me; my kid that I was supposed to meet next week would’ve been my second one with her.’

Villavasso also warned against the dangers of road rage.

Lewis was a pharmacy tech but wanted to get into her passion which was the beauty industry

‘Road rage is never the answer. It’s never safe. From here on out, I would ask not only people here in New Orleans, but people worldwide, to take it one day at a time,’ Villavasso said. ‘When you drive, drive with patience. When you drive, drive knowing there are others on the side of you, in front of you or behind you. Drive knowing there are other lives at stake.’

Lewis was a pharmacy tech but wanted to get into her passion which was the beauty industry.

The ‘angry’ grandmother said the incident has made her question her faith in god.

‘She loved her baby. She loved the baby she was carrying. She couldn’t wait. I know things happen to good people, but I’m just like, I thought God and I were tighter than that,’ Lewis’ mom, Dorothy Lewis, previously told WDSU.

‘Her main goal, after she had Mydas, was go back to school and obtain her cosmetology license.’

Lewis was described as ‘a beautiful soul. Smart, intelligent, loving’ and someone who ‘loved people’.

‘She was our baby. She was everybody’s baby. We loved her so much. She was just our baby, ‘ Lewis’ sister Domonique Hutson cried to WDSU.

‘I can’t. That was my baby. I don’t want to do anything without her. I just can’t.’