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Debby Bazan's family remembers mom as charges grow in case

A multi-vehicle crash at the intersection of West Valencia Road and South Mark Road resulted in the death of a 73-year-old Debby Bazan
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TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Pima County Sheriff's Department is adding second-degree murder to the list of charges in a hit and run crash from late June on Tucson's southwest side.

Debby Bazan's family is keeping her memory alive. Her daughters Michelle Bazan-Mills and April Barnes now wear Debby's wedding and engagement rings.

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Michelle Bazan-Mills and April Barnes are keeping their mother Debby's memory alive through family heirlooms, with Bazan-Mills wearing her engagement ring and Barnes wearing her wedding band. They say these mementos—and their relationship with each other—help them keep a connection with their mother.

“It wasn’t our mom’s fault and in the beginning," said Michelle Bazan-Mills, Debby's daughter, "it was painted that way.

The initial investigation by the Pima County Sheriff Department found that Bazan had run a red light, causing a three-car crash.

July 8, PCSD said they had changed course after a deeper investigation, and Cain ran the red light instead, driving at around 96 mph.

“Why were you going that fast down that road?" Barnes asked aloud. "96 miles an hour in a 45? How could you be so careless?”

Barnes said she's become more conscious of everyone on the road, even herself.

"We have our moments when we drive— of course" she said. "But ever since this happened, I go the speed limit, and anybody who goes crazy around us, it just makes me mad. Because watch where you're going. You don't know what could happen."

"She didn't do anything wrong," Bazan-Mills said. "She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Debby Bazan
Debby Bazan was killed in a hit and run crash in late June on Tucson's southwest side.

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Alex Dowd is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9, where her work combines her two favorite hobbies: talking to new people and learning about the community around her. Her goal is to eventually meet every single person in Tucson. Share your story ideas with Alex via email, alex.dowd@kgun9.com, or connecting on Instagram or X.