KINGMAN, Ariz. – A young woman just doing her job when she was killed: that’s what the family of 21-year-old Sarah Bingham said happened in Kingman on Jan. 26, when her car was hit by a person who was allegedly fleeing from law enforcement.

We reported on the incident involving 44-year-old Juan Javier Ortiz on Jan. 30. A DPS spokesperson said that detectives with their State Gang Task Force tried to contact Ortiz in Kingman on the night of Jan. 26 when the incident that led to Bingham’s death happened.

“As detectives approached the suspect vehicle, the suspect rammed two detective vehicles, at which point a trooper-involved shooting occurred,” read a part of the statement released by investigators.

Ortiz, detectives said, fled the area, and was later involved in a crash that killed Bingham. A portion of the incident was captured by a surveillance camera in the area.

Victim remembered as “the light of our family”

Bingham’s family said she was hard-working young girl who was looking forward to marrying her fiancee, Bella, this year. 

“She was the life of the family, really. The light of our family,” said Bingham’s aunt, Sandy Brewer.

Brewer said Bingham was delivering pizzas and on the phone with her fiancee when the crash happened.

“[Bella] was talking to Sarah, and Sarah said she heard sirens, and then everything went, like, dead,” said Brewer, “Bella kept on saying ‘Sarah? Are you there? Is anybody there?’ And apparently that’s when the police picked up the phone and told us to go to the hospital, and all of us went to the hospital. They tried to revive her on the scene, but it was too late.”

The family came together in a recent vigil to grieve her sudden death, and remember her short life.

“We’re devastated,” said Brewer. “We loved her with everything we are, and we are going to miss her so much.”

Ortiz is accused of committing several offenses, including first degree murder, aggravated assault, and unlawful flight from pursuing law enforcement vehicle.