Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against DUI Crash Suspect

The family of Enid Mayer-Sheaf has filed a lawsuit against Anthony Rodriguez

After a Chula Vista woman was killed in a suspected DUI crash, her family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the driver accused in her death.

On July 22, Enid Diane Mayer-Sheaf, 61, was driving on Carmel Valley Road when Anthony Rodriguez, heading the opposite way, crossed over the center divider and slammed into Mayer-Sheaf’s car, according to police. The woman died at the scene.

Prosecutors say Rodriguez, 30, had spent the day at a Padres game and two bars before getting behind the wheel with a blood alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit.

That makes Rodriguez directly responsible for Mayer-Sheaf’s death, according to the lawsuit filed by the firm CaseyGerry on behalf of the victim’s family.

The suit claims Rodriguez drove “with wanton, willful and conscious disregard for the safety of others.”

“Because of this alleged malicious act,” attorney Frederick Schenk said in a release, “his family has suffered tremendously and will seek punitive damages in addition to general damages.”

NBC 7 has reached out to Rodriguez's attorney about the suit, but we have not heard back.

Rodriguez faces criminal charges of DUI causing death, gross vehicular manslaughter and having a blood alcohol level in excess of 0.08 causing injury.

Prosecutors estimated the defendant had close to ten drinks at the game, a bar downtown and a bar in Pacific Beach before the deadly crash.

Just before her death, Mayer-Sheaf had left the hospital where her mother-in-law died the same day. Mayer-Sheaf’s husband, Danny, called their deaths a “double whammy” that left his family devastated.

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