Hundreds turn out for vigil honoring teen driver killed after being struck by DUI suspect

Jaelan Fajardo was an outgoing 16-year-old with a contagious laugh who aimed for straight A’s, friends said Friday during a candlelight vigil at Shadow Ridge High School, where he was a student.

Hundreds turned out to honor the teen, who was killed early Thursday while driving himself to school. Nevada Highway Patrol troopers said Fajardo was stopped at a red light near Durango Drive and Farm Road about 6:30 a.m. when a DUI suspect failed to stop, plowing into the back of Fajardo’s car.

The wreck sent debris into the air, and the teen’s car was forced forward.

A man who spoke at the vigil said he and four others jumped out of their cars and ran to help.

Fajardo was unconscious but had a weak pulse, the man said. Together, the group — including airmen and off-duty firefighters — stayed by Fajardo’s side, eventually performing CPR as paramedics rushed to the scene.

“He didn’t go alone,” the man, 20, who did not wish to identify himself, said to those at the vigil. “We were with him.”

As he spoke, Fajardo’s mother, who did not wish to speak, made her way through the crowd and hugged the anonymous speaker, then thanked him for trying to help save her son.

“Drive home safe,” the man said into a megaphone, before disappearing into the crowd. “Make sure you tell everybody you love that you love them.”

SUSPECT HAD PRIOR DUIs

The man arrested Thursday in connection with Fajardo’s death, David Fensch, 47, suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, and records revealed he had several previous DUI arrests.

One of those arrests happened in 2011, after Fensch was pulled over about 1:30 a.m. in the area of Cimarron Road and Deer Springs — less than two miles from where Fajardo was killed Thursday.

A report from that arrest obtained Friday by the Las Vegas Review-Journal noted Fensch also had four prior DUI convictions out of Michigan, dated August 2003, October 2003, January 2008 and April 2008.

The 2011 report noted Fensch smelled of an “alcoholic beverage” at the time, adding that his eyes were “bloodshot and glossy.”

When asked if he had been drinking, Fensch answered yes, then specified he’d had “about five drinks,” the report said. When asked what type of alcohol he drank, Fensch said, “A little bit of everything.”

Fensch refused all standard field sobriety tests at the time but was arrested on suspicion of impairment. He faced one count of DUI felony with priors.

Stemming from the 2011 arrest, court records show Fensch completed all requirements of a DUI court program in March 2014. Part of that program includes attending a victim impact panel, in which the defendant listens to a panel including relatives of DUI victims, first responders and a previous DUI offender.

The report from Fensch’s Thursday arrest was not available as of Friday afternoon. Jail records show he faces one count of failing to decrease speed and use due care, one count of not having a driver’s license and one count of vehicular homicide, which is reserved for DUI cases.

LONG LIVE KING J

At the vigil — which was held near the school’s soccer field, because Fajardo played soccer — many teens spoke about their shock and grief .

A few said they wondered why he wasn’t in class Thursday, then couldn’t believe the news, which spread quickly. Others said they didn’t cry at first, because they couldn’t accept he was gone.

Fajardo was known for excelling in school. It was always a competition with him over grades, many said, adding that they rarely won. But class wasn’t Fajardo’s life.

When he wasn’t at school, Fajardo was at friends’ houses, or hanging out at the nearby Raising Cane’s. Many nights Fajardo would watch “Grey’s Anatomy” alone at home, then text friends about what happened in the television show.

When the speeches ended, one person cried out, “Long live King J,” a nickname for Fajardo.

That’s when hundreds repeated those words while holding up tiny candles to the sky. Then silence.

Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter.