‘Everybody loved him’: Las Vegas chef killed by suspected DUI driver remembered

The widow of a chef who was killed in a crash authorities said was caused by a suspected drunk driver near downtown Las Vegas said her late husband was a “loving person” who “made everybody laugh.”

“Everybody loved him, his personality,” said Sarita Moreno, whose husband, Julio Nave-Giron, died after the Saturday night crash. He was 46.

“He was a loving person, outgoing, a big-hearted jokester,” Moreno said Monday. “He made everybody laugh.”

A chef at Pepper Club, a Mediterranean restaurant in The English Hotel in Las Vegas’ Arts District, Nave-Giron was the sole provider for his family, family friend Adrianna Oropeza said.

A GoFundMe online fundraiser organized by Oropeza to help cover Nave-Giron’s funeral expenses had earned more than $8,500 as of Tuesday night. Proceeds will also help support Moreno and her three sons, Oropeza said.

“He was a really good person,” said Oropeza, of Bullhead City, Arizona.

Crash details

Nave-Giron was heading south in his Ford SUV from a four-way stop sign on South Sixth Street at East St. Louis Avenue at around 9 p.m. on Saturday night, according to a Metro news release. The crash happened when a 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class heading east on East St. Louis failed to stop at the four-way stop sign and struck Nave-Giron’s Ford “at a high rate of speed,” according to police.

Police identified the driver of the Mercedes-Benz as Rogelio Camacho, 41.

Nave-Giron died at the scene, according to police.

Camacho was taken to University Medical Center with moderate injuries and was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on suspicion of reckless driving and DUI, police said, adding that Nave-Giron’s death was the 152nd traffic-related fatality in Metro’s jurisdiction this year.

A criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Las Vegas Justice Court shows Camacho faces charges of DUI resulting in death, reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm and a misdemeanor count of driving with an open alcohol container inside a vehicle. Camacho remained in custody as of Tuesday, according to online jail records.

Moreno said that while she hasn’t been following any developments with Camacho’s criminal case, she would like to eventually advocate against impaired driving.

“We need to stop this because it’s just too much,” Moreno said of DUI cases across the Las Vegas Valley.

‘A great husband and a loving son’

Moreno said that she met her husband on an online dating site 16 years ago and that the two had been married for the past eight.

Cooking had always been a passion of Nave-Giron’s, she said, even back when they first met. Nave-Giron’s signature dish was ceviche made from scratch, and he often claimed it was the best around, Moreno said.

“Any time my family had an event, he would joke around and say, ‘I hope they don’t put me to work,’ but then would offer to cook,” Moreno said. “He loved food.”

Nave-Giron was also an avid Las Vegas Raiders fan and was a part of the Raiders “Wrecking Crew” fan club, Oropeza said. The group, which has more than 1,700 followers on Instagram, posted in Nave-Giron’s memory after learning of his death.

“He loved, absolutely loved, the Raiders,” Oropeza said. “That was his team.”

Moreno said that funeral arrangements for her husband are pending, but they held a vigil near the crash site and more than two dozen people showed up Monday evening to pay their respects.

Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Casey_Harrison1 on X or @casey-harrison.bsky.social on Bluesky.