SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — A priest says South Bend’s Hispanic community is hurting after a young mother died when a police car struck her vehicle as she was returning home from work.
Erica Flores died early Friday when South Bend police officer Justin Gorny’s patrol car collided with her vehicle in an intersection. The 22-year-old Flores had two daughters, ages 3 and 4.
St. Joseph County’s prosecutor says Gorny was traveling with his emergency lights flashing when he collided with Flores’ vehicle.
The Rev. Kevin Bauman is pastor of Our Lady of Hungary. He says Flores’ youth and her reputation as a hardworking, devoted single mother and parishioner is hitting the local Hispanic community hard, and some are angry.
Bauman tells the South Bend Tribune that Flores “always put her children first.”
