Police say 8-year-old boy killed in DUI crash

Posted: Jul 30, 2010 5:21 PM by Nancy Chen
Updated: Jul 30, 2010 5:41 PM

A Paso Robles couple is in shock after their 8-year-old grandson was killed in a what police say was a DUI crash.

Isaiah Solis Becker died Tuesday when the car his father was driving slammed into a guard rail on Highway One in Monterey County.

Police say Zabdiel Arciga was driving 120 miles per hour when he crashed around 1 a.m. He's now facing charges of murder and driving under the influence in the death of his son.

Arciga plead not guilty in a Salinas courtroom yesterday.

In an exclusive interview with Isaiah's grandparents, they say they raised him from when he was just four months to when he was five years old and his father was granted custody.

"I delivered him," said Pamela Becker, his grandmother. "I cut his cord. I brought him into this world."

Arciga has a previous DUI conviction and has been charged in the past with domestic violence and child cruelty.

"And they still gave him custody of our baby boy," Becker said. "And this is the result of that. And Isaiah didn't deserve that. He didn't deserve that life."

The Beckers took him in after his mother abandoned him when he was just three months old; she's seen him twice since then.

"He had a really rough start, and then he had a rough ending," Becker said. "But in between that, I believe he had a wonderful life>

They say unanswered questions haunt them.

"Was Isaiah still asleep when he was driving like this?" she asked. "Was Isaiah awake, screaming, 'Daddy, please slow down. Slow down, Daddy, slow down'? We will never know that."

Pamela and George Becker, Isaiah's grandfather, say Arciga kept his son away from them and the last time they saw him was more than a year ago.

A room for Isaiah remains empty at their home. He called them 'Grandma' and 'Papa'. They say that special place in their home will always be known as "Isaiah's Room."