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March 10, 2005 written by Jeff Francis
Accident claims life of "good girl"
Family, friends remember a star athlete with an infectious personality
A memorial for Melanie Archuleta, 20, rests against the tree near the site of the accident that claimed her life Feb. 24. Jonathan Threlkeld, 26, who was driving 78 miles per hour in a 30-mph zone, is being held at Jefferson County Jail on a charge of vehicular homicide resulting from drunken and careless driving.
As a star high school athlete who attended college on a soccer scholarship, Melanie Archuleta made her mother proud.However, Rebecca Archuleta also was baffled when her daughter fell in with what she regarded as a bad crowd. Now she believes the move cost Melanie Archuleta her life.
Melanie Archuleta was killed Feb. 24 when the car in which she was a passenger lost control. She was ejected from the car and died.
"It was one of those stories when you hear about a good girl who honestly never should have been with those people," Rebecca Archuleta said. "She wasn't wearing her seatbelt, and she was usually the seatbelt advocate."
Melanie Archuleta was spending the day with her co-worker, Jonathan Threlkeld, 26, and his friend, Lindsey "Glen" Bayard, 21. At roughly 7 p.m., Threlkeld, who police said later admitted to consuming six beers, was driving Bayard and Archuleta north on Union Boulevard to a Hamburger Stand. Investigators estimate Threlkeld was driving 78 miles per hour in a 30-mph zone when he struck three trees.
Threlkeld is being held in Jefferson County Jail on a charge of vehicular homicide resulting from drunken and careless driving. As of press time, a $12,000 bond was not posted.
Threlkeld, who has a criminal record including convictions for felony forgery and parole violations, was taken to Swedish Medical Center. According to an arrest affidavit, a Lakewood police officer visited his room and heard him state to a hospital worker, "I shouldn't have been drinking and driving. I know better."
While Threlkeld remains in jail, Melanie Archuleta's family struggles to deal with the grief of her passing. "She was wonderful, my perfect daughter," Rebecca Archuleta said. "She loved everyone. The kids at (Lakewood High School) who were picked on and weren't popular, those are the kids she embraced, so she could make them feel special."
Rebecca Archuleta said there were more than 600 people at Melanie Archuleta's funeral.
A large number of the attendees were former classmates from Melanie Archuleta's days as a star soccer player at Lakewood High School. She graduated in 2002 and attended Stony Brook University in Long Island, N.Y. on a soccer scholarship.
"She was one of those athletes that as a coach you know you're just going to have five or six of them in a lifetime," said Kent Warrion, who coached Archuleta for four years at Lakewood High School. "She was bubbly, energetic, an absolutely infectious sense of humor. Everyone just loved her.
"It's been absolutely devastating," Warrion said of the accident. "It was such a tragic loss, and it didn't have to happen. That's the real tragedy of it."
I made this site in memory of my sister, Melanie. She was killed by a drunk driver on Feb. 24th, 2005. She was an amazing person. She was 20 when she died. She graduated from Lakewood High School in 2002 and went to Stony Brook University in Long Island on a soccer scholarship. She was beautiful and she will never be forgotten. If you believe in stopping drunk driving then add me as a friend, I just want my sister to be remembered. Leave comments of behalf of my sis or bout the site, don't send me comments, please!
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