Family mourns DeKalb mom, grandma killed in DUI crash: ‘Such a loving, great person’

DeKALB – If you’ve had a slice of chocolate cake from Portillo’s in Sycamore at any point over the past 20 years, chances are it was made by the loving hands of Graciela Reza Contreras, a doting mother, grandmother and coworker who was killed in a drunken driving crash days ago.

Lorena Reza of DeKalb said she and her family are still reeling and in shock from the loss of her mother, their family’s matriarch. Graciela Reza Contreras was 59, and lived with Reza and her family in DeKalb.

“It’s been very hard. We’ve been having a prayer circle here at my house,” Reza said. “I’m still in disbelief. Honestly, it’s very sad. Especially because of the way that things happened. It’s just so heartbreaking, I can’t even wrap my head around it. I just keep thinking about my mom coming through the door, but it just hits me that she’s not going to be able to do that.”

Four members of Reza’s family were but a block away from home when a car crashed into their own Sunday, injuring all four occupants, including Reza’s 10-year-old son, who was with Reza Contreras in the back seat of the car. Reza’s son, mother-in-law and mother-in-law’s boyfriend, the driver, also were hospitalized. Reza said they’re all sore but recovering.

“My mom was in the back seat next to him [my son]. That’s where they got hit. My mom was the one that took the hit,” Reza said. “We found out as soon as it happened. We were celebrating our younger son’s sixth birthday party in Chicago and they were coming back from there, just a block away from home.”

[ Off-duty cop charged with driving drunk in crash that killed DeKalb woman ]

Prosecutors have alleged James M. Corralejo, 25, an off-duty cop, was the one behind the wheel of the crash reported about 12:57 a.m. Sunday.

Corralejo lives in DeKalb and is employed by the village of South Holland Police Department in south suburban Chicago.

According to court records, he admitted to DeKalb police that he’d been drinking and agreed to field sobriety tests that showed he had a blood-alcohol content level nearly twice the legal limit. He was arrested Sunday and charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI causing death. Corralejo was released from jail Monday by DeKalb County Circuit Court Judge Philip Montgomery, who ordered Corralejo be placed on a device that monitors alcohol levels. He faces 14 years in jail if convicted.

South Holland police chief Shawn Staples did not respond to requests for comment, however, the village released a social media statement Wednesday. The statement reported that officials from the South Holland and DeKalb police departments are in communication.

“The Village of South Holland expects all employees to hold themselves to a high standard of conduct, even when they are off-duty. The circumstances of this incident appear to fall far short of that, hence an internal investigation is also underway,” the statement reads. “We are deeply saddened by the outcome of this tragic incident. We grieve with the victim’s family, and our thoughts are with the remaining passengers who were injured.”

Portillo’s staff in Sycamore also did not respond to requests for comment. Their coworker’s loss, however, is likely already felt, Reza said.

“That famous chocolate cake they had, my mom was the only one who knew how to make it the perfect way,” Reza said. “She would always come home and say ‘They made me make like 20 chocolate cakes today.’ She would try to teach somebody how to make them, but it would not come out the same. She loved baking so much.”

A GoFundMe public fundraiser has been set up by the family. They’ve raised $7,738 from 131 donations as of Thursday night to help send the grandmother of four and mother of three back home to her family in Mexico.

Reza Contreras moved from Durango, Mexico to DeKalb in 2006, her daughter said. Although she’d cultivated a close-knit group of family and friends here in the states, she’d already been planning her retirement and was going to move back home.

“As we come to terms with this unimaginable loss, we are determined to honor the memory of our mother by giving her the farewell she deserves,” family wrote in the fundraiser. “Our mother often spoke about going back to her hometown, to finally see our older brother, who she had not seen in over 10 years.”

Reza Contreras leaves behind her two siblings in DeKalb, her daughters Reza and Flor Reyes and her son Roberto Avalos of Durango, Mexico, along with Avalos’ two children and Reza’s two children.

Reza said it’s a comfort to know her children were really close to her mother. Her youngest, 6, even slept with his grandmother for the past few months.

Her family, friends and coworkers in DeKalb are planning a fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at 1810 E. Lincoln Highway to help sell food and raise money for Reza Contreras’s funeral expenses and to send her body back home to Durango.

Reza said she wants others to remember her mother “By her big smile that she always had.”

“She was such a great, loving person, always helping me with my children, always taking care of them, cooking us food,” Reza said. “Just how much of a great person she was with her family and her close friends that she appreciated so much. I want everyone to remember her like that and always remember the big smile. That was who she was.”