Keeping their daughters’ memory alive, Peshlakais persist in fight against drunk driving
Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
Darlene Peshlakai speaks about her daughters on Saturday night during a sobriety checkpoint held in their remembrance in Santa Fe.
SANTA FE
On a chilly Saturday night in Santa Fe, Darlene and David Peshlakai stand watch at a DWI checkpoint, their eyes scanning passing vehicles. This annual event, held on the anniversary of their daughters’ deaths, has become a bittersweet ritual for the grieving parents.
Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
Darlene Peshlakai wears an “Angels – vs – Drunk Drivers” reflective safety vest during a sobriety checkpoint in Santa Fe, on Saturday night.
On March 5, 2010, the Peshlakai family’s lives were shattered. Darlene, David, and their two teenage daughters, Del Lynn and Deshauna, were driving home from a basketball game when a drunk driver rear-ended their vehicle on the streets of Santa Fe. The impact pushed their car 80 feet down the road, killing Del Lynn, 19, and Deshauna, 17, instantly.
“This is something you’ll never get over,” Darlene said, her voice heavy with emotion. “You don’t heal. You just move on and cope with it.”
Since the tragedy, the Peshlakais have turned their grief into advocacy, working to prevent other families from experiencing the same heartbreak. They organize the annual DWI checkpoint and memorial event, drawing support from law enforcement agencies across New Mexico, including the State Police and the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
“We appreciate the officers being here,” David said, gesturing to the line of patrol cars. “It takes all of these guys to make this work, to try to stop this thing.”
However, the Peshlakais are frustrated by the lack of support from elected officials. They have repeatedly invited the governor of New Mexico and the president of the Navajo Nation to attend, hoping to raise awareness and push for more resources to fight impaired driving, but their pleas have gone unanswered.
Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
A neon sign flashing “DWI Checkpoint” moves across a window of a police unit on Saturday night in Santa Fe.
“If the governor or Navajo Nation president would come out and see how this is set up, it would make a big difference,” David said. “Maybe they would set money aside for the police department to be able to do something like this.”
They also believe the judicial system is failing to hold drunk drivers accountable. They recount cases where offenders received lenient sentences because of minor police report errors, only to re-offend.
To read the full article, please see the March 6, 2025, edition of the Navajo Times
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