‘Tons of memories, but not enough’
Mother succumbs to injuries from stolen-van crash that killed her daughter
For 13 days, Shaunna ArredondoBoling’s family stayed at her bedside, praying and talking to her, after a stolen van plowed into her car, killing her 14-year-old daughter, injuring her son and gravely injuring her.
The family was told Monday she was gone and no longer breathing, according to her mother, Diane Boling. She was taken off of life support and declared dead Tuesday afternoon, she said.
Boling said her daughter, ArredondoBoling, 39, had been unconscious and undergoing surgeries since she arrived at the University of New Mexico Hospital following the Jan. 18 crash in a foothills neighborhood.
She said she’s not sure whether Arredondo-Boling realized her daughter had died in the crash before she lost consciousness.
“I pray that she didn’t,” Boling said. “The comfort I take in all this is my girls are reunited together and my granddaughter has her mother.”
Arredondo-Boling had been driving her daughter, Shaylee Boling, to school when police say two thieves driving
nearly 80 mph crashed into their car. Shaylee, who was a freshman at Sandia High School, died on the scene near Chelwood Park and Copper NE. Shaylee’s 3-year-old brother, who was also in the car, was taken to the hospital with a broken leg. Arredondo-Boling was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
Two days after the crash, detectives arrested 21-year-old Elexus Groves, who admitted she was driving the stolen van when it crashed into the family’s car. Police are still looking for the other suspect, Paul Garcia, 24, who police say also stole the van and was with her when it crashed.
Arredondo-Boling’s family buried Shaylee last week, and the Albuquerque Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service continue to search for Garcia.
In the nearly two weeks since the crash, Arredondo-Boling’s family remained with her at the hospital.
“We would sit with her, and talk with her, and pray over her,” Boling said. “That’s done with now.”
Boling said her daughter loved being around children and made every effort to spend as much time as possible with her two kids, taking them to the park, on walks and doing arts and crafts.
Recently, she became interested in baking from scratch and would make toffee for birthdays and holidays.
“She put her heart on the line for everyone to see how much she cared,” Boling said. “She always tried to make her children laugh and smile. She made sure they had everything they needed.”
She said Arredondo-Boling had worked as an assistant preschool teacher for years before becoming an elementary school crossing guard after her son was born.
Boling said Arredondo-Boling and her daughter were very close, even when Shaylee was being a “typical teenager.”
“When it came down to it (Shaylee) always went to her mother if she had a problem or needed to discuss something,” Boling said. “Shaunna was always there for her.”
Groves and Garcia had been charged with murder, along with other crimes, but APD officer Simon Drobik said that now that ArredondoBoling has died, the charges against them will be amended.
Drobik said detectives believe Garcia has probably left Albuquerque and is being protected by his friends or family. Crime Stoppers has offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Drobik said authorities are not sure where he might have gone and are asking for the public’s help.
“The community should be outraged,” Drobik said. “This coward is on the run right now, we’re looking for him. Anyone who harbors him will be going to jail along with him.”
Boling said Shaylee’s younger brother knows about her death but they haven’t yet told him ArredondoBoling has died.
She said once they do, she will do everything she can to make sure he remembers what a wonderful woman his mother was.
“I have tons of memories, but not enough,” Boling said. “I’m very blessed to have had her for the time that I did. She was a beautiful person inside and out.”