Aaron Rodriguez, 29, of Mesquite died at the scene when his 2010 Hyundai Genesis was struck by a wrong-way driver in a 2015 Nissan Altima on southbound Interstate 15 near mile marker 77 around 4:11 a.m. Friday, according to Nevada Highway Patrol. The Nissan driver, Alba Zaret Bueno-Lopez, 38, of Las Vegas, also died. Rodriguez attempted to steer right to avoid the collision, but the vehicles crashed, and the Nissan was then hit by a 2025 Chevrolet Silverado. The Silverado driver suffered minor injuries and was not hospitalized. Trooper Shawn Haggstrom said the investigation is ongoing.
Rodriguez and his wife, Margaret Rodriguez Hafen, had learned on Oct. 18 they were expecting their second child. She said he was overjoyed and immediately wanted to share the news, ordering a "big brother" sweater for their 10-month-old son and planning a visit to her parents that night. The couple, who moved from Tampa, Florida, about a year and a half ago, married on Nov. 1, 2025. Rodriguez had recently started a job at the Boring Company in Las Vegas as an automation and electrical control engineer and served in the Army National Guard.
"I'm just so thankful that I got to share that exciting news with him and see how excited he was," Rodriguez Hafen said Tuesday. She is about six weeks into her pregnancy and is relying on family in Southern Nevada and a support network reaching to Rodriguez's native Puerto Rico.
Friends and family described Rodriguez as a caring, adventurous father and a role model. Merlin Hafen, Rodriguez Hafen's brother, said, "The official term is brother-in-law, right? But to me, he was my brother. He was a great inspiration to everybody that he came in contact with. Nobody had anything bad to say about him." Mark Mason of Tampa, who met the couple through church, said their relationship was strong from the start and called the tragedy hard to watch.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: 8 News Now →
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