Family seeks help to send crash victim’s body to Mexico for burial

EVERETT — Relatives of a man killed early Monday in a suspected drunken driving crash on I-5 in Everett are trying to raise enough money to return his body to Mexico for burial.

They’re collecting money in front of stores in Everett in hopes of collecting about $4,500, said Lavonne Silva Sanchez, the victim’s sister-in-law.

Sanchez said a phone call woke her Monday. It was the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office asking her to identify her brother-in-law’s body.

The Snohomish County medical examiner identified the victim Tuesday as Marcos Lopez Silva, 20, of Everett, and ruled his death accidental.

Relatives said the landscaper was killed after he went out drinking with a man they do not know.

Silva’s mother lives in Mexico and requested that his body be sent home, relatives said.

“It’s been hard,” Sanchez said Tuesday.

The sister-in-law and other relatives attended a brief hearing in Everett District Court where Enedino Margarito Mendez, 21, made his first appearance. Police allege the man was driving drunk and caused the fatal crash.

A judge found probable cause to hold Margarito Mendez for investigation of vehicular homicide and set bail at $250,000.

Margarito Mendez also was ordered held for investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

A witness told police he saw the Mazda pickup swerving between lanes on I-5 in Everett early Monday before it slammed into an unoccupied flatbed pickup parked on the shoulder, according to a police affidavit.

Lopez Silva died at the scene.

Investigators said Margarito Mendez smelled of alcohol and had watery eyes. They found 15 empty bottles of beer in the man’s pickup, court records said.

Sanchez said her brother-in-law’s life was cut short.

“We can’t bring him back, of course,” she said.

Still, others can learn from the tragedy facing her family.

“If you’re going to drink, please do it responsibly,” Sanchez said.

Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.