A North County family is dealing with a heartbreaking blow. Their 24-year-old daughter was killed after getting into a suspected road rage fight in a shopping center parking lot.
It happened Monday evening just before 6:30. Taylor Tannenbaum was on her way home from Target on Mira Mesa Boulevard.
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Her boyfriend of 7 years, Sean Carden, missed her final call.
"I had a missed call at 6:22 and the lady here called the ambulance at 6:25," said Carden as he fought back tears.
The two started dating shortly after Tannenbaum graduated from Rancho Bernardo High School.
"Everything in life is just blank without her," he said.
According to a witness, Tannenbaum was in a Toyota Scion, honking her horn and chasing someone in a Toyota Camry out of the Target parking lot.
"The Scion just got angry and was catching up to the Camry and the Camry got upset and hit the Scion and she lost control of her car," said Denise Aragon, who watched it happed at a stop light on Mira Mesa Boulevard.
Aragon says the Camry's headlights were not on and the windows were tinted. She said both cars sped past her erratically.
"I saw from a distance the Camry go into the Scion in which the Scion spun out, lost control about two and a half times before hitting the tree," said Aragon.
The driver of the Camry never stopped, but police said they have made contact with that person.
Carden said his girlfriend was kind and loyal, but not one to back down.
"She's a tough girl, so I know if someone or if anyone said anything to her she would stand up for anyone, if anyone said anything to her," Carden said. "It doesn't matter who you are or how big you are and it's that personality that I think, what happened is because of that."
Police haven't confirmed that road rage contributed to the crash, they will only say the investigation is ongoing.
Carden hopes his loss will be a lesson to all drivers.
"Be safe on the road and even if someone does tick you off, don't go after them," he said. "Cause you'll miss people in your life and it's so stupid."
The Tannenbaum family has seen its share of tragedy. Taylor's father died in a car crash when she was a child. Her mother is battling late stage cancer.
