On the evening of Tuesday, September 15, 2015, a violent chain of events unfolded in the Northeast area of Kansas City, Missouri, claiming the life of an innocent bystander. Mariana Hernandez-Gonzales, a 30-year-old female, was traveling as a passenger in a Chevrolet Tahoe near the intersection of Ninth Street and Hardesty Avenue. Unknown to her, a rolling gun battle was taking place nearby between the occupants of two other vehicles.
As the SUV she was riding in passed through the intersection around 9:00 p.m., one of the vehicles involved in the shootout, a stolen Chrysler 300, ran a red light and violently collided with the Tahoe. The impact caused the SUV to roll onto its side, ejecting Mariana from the vehicle. She sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Inside the Tahoe with Mariana were her boyfriend, who was driving, and six children ranging in age from 18 months to 10 years old. Miraculously, while the other occupants suffered various injuries, none were life-threatening. The crash left the vehicle lying on its side adjacent to a railroad overpass, while the chaotic scene drew the attention of local residents accustomed to neighborhood disturbances but shocked by the tragedy of an uninvolved mother losing her life. The occupants of the Chrysler fled the scene immediately following the crash, jumping into another vehicle to escape the arriving authorities.
Police investigation revealed that the driver of the stolen Chrysler was 26-year-old Deanna L. Holleran of Newton, Missouri. According to court documents, Holleran admitted to investigators that she was driving the Chrysler with three passengers when another car began firing at them. She reportedly told detectives that as she approached the intersection, she closed her eyes and accelerated to escape the gunfire, leading directly to the deadly collision. Officers pursued a vehicle fleeing the area to 18th Street and Jackson Avenue, where they were able to take a suspect into custody. Prosecutors subsequently charged Holleran with second-degree murder, tampering with a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident, and multiple counts of assault in connection with the death of Mariana Hernandez-Gonzales and the injuries to her family.
