Arizona mother defends jailed daughter, 18, who killed four people while street racing, then fled the scene

A shameless Arizona mom whose 18 year-old daughter killed four during an illegal street race before fleeing the scene has insisted her offspring is 'a good kid.'  

Amy Rodriguez has sparked fury by becoming a popular TikToker with videos defending daughter Elena Rodriguez, who was jailed for nine years for the July 2022 manslaughter of four people in Phoenix, Arizona  

Elena and Jakel Huckaby were racing each other on July 22, 2022 in Phoenix when Huckaby's speeding car ran a red light and crashed into a rideshare car on Thunderbird Road.

The Lyft driver, Terry Hill, 28, and his two passengers Sara Loustaunau, 37, and British Pena, 39, died at the scene. One of Huckaby's passengers, Galexy Saunders, 19, died from her injuries at the hospital. Elena fled the fireball wreck - with her mom also defending her daughter's disgraceful behavior in a recent AZFamily interview. 

Amy Rodriguez has sparked fury by speaking out in defense of her killer daughter Elena, 18, who slaughtered four during a street race, then fled the scene 

Elena Rodriguez, pictured, has been defended by her mother even after being jailed for killing four during a Phoenix street race 

'She's a good kid, never been in trouble, great student. It can just happen to anybody. She was just getting out of work,' Amy told AZ Family.

Defending the killer teen's decision to flee the scene, Amy continued: 'She did see it in the back of her mirror so she wasn’t sure if something exploded or if there was an accident, so she wasn’t sure until the next day.'

Amy has shared her daughter's story on TikTok and her videos have garnered millions of views.

'She was 17-years-old and that is her beautiful car that she was driving that night,' Amy said in one post titled 'Why my daughter went to prison.' 

Commenters on Amy's video have criticized her for not being considerate of the victims and their families.

'You know what else was beautiful…. The souls that are lost because of her,' said one commenter named Betsabe.

Lyft driver Terry Hill was among four people killed in a smash caused by Rodriguez's daughter

Sara Loustaunau was killed after the Lyft she was a passenger in was struck during a crash caused by Elena

British Pena, 39, was inside the Lyft alongside Loustanau and was also killed 

Galexy Saunders, 19, was in the other car that was racing and died when it smashed into the Lyft

Another user named Jaysona said, 'I get you know, loving her still because she’s your daughter, it’s just the way you talk about it as if what she did was something so small...'

'Wow the way you discuss this tragedy like it’s a [get ready with me video]…' said a user named Cammy.

Amy addressed the commenters in a video saying, 'I know I’m getting dragged on the internet and I really don’t care.'

'This is my daughter and this is my page and they are her victims. Why would I talk about them?'

Hill had a daughter and his family remembers him as a great father, husband and person. 

The aftermath of the July 2022 horror smash is pictured 

'He was a good provider, he took care of my daughter, he took care of me, he took care of my whole family,' his mother-in-law Sharon James told AZ Family.

'He was outspoken, goofy, he didn’t care about whose feelings got hurt,' his sister Jada said. 'He made sure his message got across, and his intentions were always pure.'

Loustaunau's obituary in The Arizona Republic described her as a 'beloved mother, daughter, sister.'

A GoFundMe page organized by her mother, Diana Heppler, said: 'Sara loved life.. she was loved and liked by so many. She loved her sons so much. She excelled in school and she excelled in everything she ventured in.'  

Heppler said when her daughter died, 'Sara was with the Love of her Life, British Pena.'