‘This Is Really Hard,’ a Brother Mourns

The families of two janitors who were killed this week in a fiery hit-and-run accident in North Hollywood spent Friday grieving for the two cousins, each of whom leaves a young child and spouse, and unfulfilled dreams of returning to their homeland of Guatemala.

Marcos Pleitez, 35, and his cousin Roselia Noguera, 26, both of Westlake, were driving early Thursday through North Hollywood. They had just dropped off two co-workers after an evening cleaning shift at the Disney Channel building in Burbank, police said.

Pleitez, the driver, was helping fellow workers who would have been otherwise stranded because of the MTA bus strike, according to Maria Mendoza, human resources manager for the workers’ janitorial services company, One Source.

“[Pleitez] was being a good Samaritan, actually,” Mendoza said.

At 2:35 a.m., according to police, Pleitez’s car was struck from behind by a speeding car traveling in the same eastbound lane of Vanowen Street in North Hollywood. Pleitez’s badly damaged car burst into flames, trapping him and Noguera inside.

The 25-year-old driver of the speeding car, Sharrieff Saunders, and a neighbor tried to rescue Pleitez and Noguera from the car, but the flames drove them back. Saunders, whom police suspect of being high on PCP or another hallucinogen, ran away when neighbors emerged to examine the scene. Ten minutes later, police from the LAPD’s North Hollywood Division said they found him walking two blocks away.

“I’m God,” he told the officers, according to LAPD Valley Traffic Det. Bob Crane. “I’m going to kill you.”

Saunders, who had been burned, lunged for an officer’s baton. After two minutes, he was subdued, arrested on suspicion of murder and eventually taken to County-USC Medical Center, where he remains in serious condition. His bail was set at $1 million.

Marcos Pleitez’s daughter, Mildre-Michel, turned 2 years old Friday, but there was no celebration as the family gathered in the somber apartment of Hugo Pleitez, Marcos’ 31-year-old brother.

“This is really hard,” said a devastated Hugo Pleitez as his niece toddled around the room. “Marcos was more than my brother; he was my friend. He was a great example for everyone. It’s impossible to know what to do now.”

Marcos Pleitez is also survived by his wife, Noelia Pleitez. Roselia Noguera is survived by husband Jorge Noguera, 39, and an 11-month-old daughter, Stephanie.

Both couples were working in the United States, but were saving to eventually move back to Guatemala, relatives said.

Family members said Pleitez and his wife were fixing up an old house on a hill back in Papalhuapa, and the Nogueras had bought land to build on near the town of Chiquimula, in Guatemala’s central highlands.

“Roselia was going to be my wife until death,” said Noguera, a worker at a painting company who is now trying to figure out how to raise his daughter. “Roselia was of the old style, a really beautiful woman. I was so happy with her.”