(CA) ER nurse killed helping crash victim
'She runs away from no battle' | Husband remembers Sharp Memorial ER nurse killed helping crash victim on I-15
Nereida "Nery" Benitez, an ER nurse at Sharp Memorial Hospital, was killed early Thursday in Fallbrook while stopping to help a crash victim on the I-15.
TEMECULA, Calif. — It was love at first sight for former Marine Emilio Hernandez when he met his wife, Nereida "Nery" Benitez.
The couple had just celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary in Yosemite, doing what Nery loved most: hiking. They had plans with close friends Tory and April Hunck to hike every national park in the country. Now those friends say they will finish that journey in her honor.
"We had plans to hike every national park in the United States, and we're going to continue that," Tory Hunck said. "We're going to finish it for Nery."
Last Thursday, around 4 a.m., Benitez was heading home from her ER nurse shift at Sharp Memorial Hospital when she and fellow good Samaritan and former Marine Gary "Chad" Tillman stopped to help a crash victim on Interstate 15 near State Route 76. Another car struck them both. Benitez and Tillman were pronounced dead at the scene.
"I am sad, I'm angry, but knowing that her last act was something that she loved doing," Hernandez said.
California Highway Patrol says the driver they stopped to help was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter. Jake Lopez Lawrence, 21, was booked at the Vista Detention Facility. He has since bailed out and is due back in court on Thursday.
"I heard that there was alcohol in one of the vehicles," Hernandez said. "If Nery knew that, she would still go."
Benitez's coworkers say her instinct to help was no surprise.
"There was something truly special about Nery," one nurse told CBS 8. "She was the kind of person people were naturally drawn to. She radiated warmth, kindness, and positivity, and even her eyes seemed to carry a constant sparkle. Her energy was contagious, and she had an incredible work ethic that earned the respect of everyone around her."
Another coworker called her simply "the friend everyone needed and the nurse everyone wished they had."
Benitez had a smile that lit up every room and a future full of promise. She turned 40 last year. A Texas native who moved to San Diego to become a nurse in 2020, she most recently worked in the ER at Sharp Memorial Hospital and had just been accepted into the Air Force as a second lieutenant, scheduled to start in September.
Hernandez, a former Marine trained to stay mission-focused, said he finds some comfort imagining his wife and Tillman together.
"Hopefully they're out there patrolling the pearly gates looking for somebody that needs help," he said. "Because if not, he's going to feel real bad that she's unemployed."
But Hernandez admits he is navigating new territory without her.
"She was the executioner. She made things happen," Hernandez said. "Without her, I was lost. I'm lost."
Hernandez is working with Sharp Memorial Hospital to honor Nery's memory. A public memorial service will be held on Thursday in Temecula.
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