HICKORY, NC – On Saturday, police arrested Cesar Lozano-Mendoza, 18, after he reportedly fatally struck a 17-year-old girl with his 2006 Chrysler 300 on 20th Street, leaving her for dead on the side of the road.
The victim, Brianna Nicole Page, was walking to a Bojangles restaurant, where she worked when she was mowed down around 5:30 a.m.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The News-Herald reported:
Family friend Alexus Rogers, 25, called Page “an amazing young woman” who worked hard to support her family, which included Page’s mother and three siblings.
“She helped her mama pay her rent, her bills,” Rogers said. “I don’t even know what she’s going to do right now, but Brianna, she was the sweetest little girl — the sweetest little girl.”
A makeshift memorial filled with flowers, cards and stuffed animals now sits next to the utility pole, where Brianna was killed.
Lozano-Mendoza has been charged with felony hit-and-run resulting in injury or death and misdemeanor traveling left of center. He was booked into the Catawba County Jail on only $15,000 bail.
*On Monday, he made his first court appearance, requested a taxpayer-funded attorney to represent him and was released after making bond.
