Police have identified a 33-year-old Silver Spring woman as the driver of the Ford Escape that drove out of a middle school parking lot Tuesday night striking and killing a 13-year-old girl who was watching a soccer game.
Police said Esperanza O. Vasquez, of the 800 block of University Boulevard East, called police Wednesday and stated that she was driving the vehicle when it collided with the girl, Deborah Reyes Casasola, and another adult at Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring around 8:30 p.m. Casasola died from her injuries after being transported to a local hopsital. The adult was not seriously injured.
Police said Vasquez does not have a Maryland driver’s license or learner’s permit.
Two other people were in the car at the time of the accident. Police identified one of them as Roland B. Delgado-Romero, 33, of Silver Spring. Degaldo-Romero is the owner of the vehicle, according to police. A third person, a 26-year-old woman, was in the rear seat at the time of the accident, according to police, and was not identified.
Police said Delgado-Romero, who has a driver’s license, was providing instructions to the 26-year-old woman, who has a learner’s permit, in the school's rear parking lot when Vasquez switched positions with the 26-year-old and became the driver. It was after the switch the collision occurred, according to police.
Police said school surveillance video captured the driver switch, but not the collision. Police said because the collision is still under investigation, they are not releasing the video. Police are consulting with the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office to determine what charges to file in the case.
