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Sep 7, 2008 6:17 pm US/Central
Family: Couple Killed In Crash Were Loving, Happy
Marianne Martinez
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
To everyone who knew Ericka and German Clouet, one thing was clear: they were a young couple in love.
"Above all, German loved his wife," said German's father, Andres Clouet,in Spanish. "They took vows, til death do them part. And even death couldn't separate them."
The Clouet's family says they were coming from the movies Labor Day morning. Police say a repeat drunk driver, Uriel Palacios, ran a red light at the intersection of Mockingbird and North Central Expressway and crashed into the couple's car.
"They need to put him in jail for life, whatever it takes," said Jaime Moreno, Ericka's brother.
Palacios, 22, had been convicted of two misdemeanor DWIs in 2003 and had two other DWI cases against him, at the time of the accident. The family of Palacios' female passenger had been drinking at a popular Dallas nightclub hours before the accident.
"What kind of government is this, where they let people out so easily?" Moreno said.
The Clouet's family is outraged that Palacios was on the street. They want tougher laws against drunk drivers, especially repeat offender. And now that they know the pain of losing two beloved family members, they want to make sure other families don't suffer.
"He was my best friend, the most important thing to us," Andres said.
"To me, they're still here. That's how much love they showed us and that's how much love we're going to keep in our hearts," Moreno said.
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