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Evelyn Rodriguez, who has become a staunch advocate for victims of gang violence after members of the MS-13 transnational gang were accused of killing her 16-year-old daughter, died after being struck by a U.V. Friday – just before a memorial service for his daughter.
The Suffolk County Police Department stated that it was involved in an argument with a driver near the location where the ceremony was to take place and that the vehicle had struck him while the driver was trying to leave.
The memorial was scheduled to take place in Brentwood, on the island of Long Island, not far from where the bodies of Mrs. Rodriguez's daughter, Kayla Cuevas, and her 15-year-old friend Nisa Mickens, were found two years ago. .
Mrs. Rodriguez, 50, a crime prevention activist who was invited to President Trump's State of the Union address in January, was preparing Friday night to commemorate the second anniversary of the discovery of the body of his daughter. .
Friday night, Mr. Trump tweeted about his death. "My thoughts and prayers are with Evelyn Rodriguez tonight, with her family and friends," he wrote.
The day before the memorial, Mrs. Rodriguez said Newsday that people present would bring candles and balloons to remember Kayla and Nisa. "It's a fight that I must continue to make sure that all communities are safe," she said.
In a statement released late Friday, Suffolk police said Ms. Rodriguez had a fight with the driver of a sports utility vehicle about setting up the memorial.
During the dispute, the driver, the parent of someone who lives nearby, tried to leave the premises and the S.U.V. hit Mrs. Rodriguez, according to the statement. The driver remained on the scene and called 911.
Ms. Rodriguez was taken to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, New York, where she was pronounced dead.
Timothy Sini, Suffolk County Attorney and former police commissioner who investigated the killings of Kayla and Nisa, said he could not comment on the details of the investigation.
"But I'll say, because it's important to clarify that this has nothing to do with MS-13, it was not an MS-13 act, or in coordination with the gang," he said.
MS-13, also known as La Mara Salvatrucha, has its roots in Los Angeles and El Salvador and has existed for over two decades on Long Island. The authorities said that thousands of school-age migrants have come as unaccompanied minors in the Brentwood School District in recent years.
When gang members were accused of the killings of Kayla and Nisa, the case became the starting point for the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Last year, Ms. Rodriguez met with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and told him that problems in his neighborhood had begun in underfunded schools, poorly equipped to treat the thousands of young immigrants in the area. And in January, she was invited to the White House to meet with President Trump and attend his State of the Union address.
"I'm not here for anybody's political gain," Rodriguez said. told the New York Times shortly before this event. "I just want it to be good. Everyone should put their political agenda aside and think about what is happening in our country.
Liz Robbins and Andrew R. Chow contributed to the report. Jack Begg contributed to the research.
Follow Jacey Fortin on Twitter: @JaceyFortin.
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