Angela Turley claims her nephew, 18-year-old James Baker, was just enjoying summer break when Roberto Pando III fatally ran the teen off the road Monday morning.
MIDLAND, Texas — Angela Turley is mourning the loss of her nephew, James Baker, who died early Monday morning after crashing into a retention wall at the intersection of North Fairgrounds Road and East Loop 250 N. The impact critically injured the 18-year-old’s girlfriend and three of her young family members, but it also took his life.
Midland Police claim Baker lost control because he was ducking gunfire while being chased at speeds topping 115 miles per hour by an admittedly intoxicated, 36-year-old Roberto Pando III.
“I can only imagine James’ mind, the amount of love he had for his girlfriend,” said Turley. “His only thing was to do what we as his family have taught him, which is to protect them, and that’s what he was doing.”
According to a 9-1-1 call, voices can be heard from inside the teenager’s pickup expressing fear moments before tragedy struck.
“To know that our James, in that moment, was afraid for his life, is the worst thing that you could possibly think of,” said Turley.
Pando told investigators that he pursued Baker’s license plate in hopes of connecting it to a string of robberies in his neighborhood. Court documents feature surveillance footage of Baker driving around the area before the chase happened.
But Turley explains her nephew was just enjoying summer break by cruising through his girlfriend’s subdivision.
“I know James drove because we have his Life360,” said Turley. “We saw his pattern. We saw his speed. If James was truly trying to stake out…, then he was going slow enough for you to take a picture and drive off, not to chase them.”
After confessing to the incident later that afternoon, Pando would be charged with murder. A petition has since surfaced online, with nearly 2,000 people calling on the local justice system to bring the maximum penalty as of Wednesday evening.
Turley, who will never see the boy she viewed as a son again, says she just wants what’s right.
“He doesn’t deserve to walk out and breathe fresh air,” said Turley. “Our James doesn’t get to ever breathe fresh air again.”
Turley also says her family’s grieving process will continue hour by hour, as MPD says additional murder charges await Pando pending the health of the four passengers.