Christopher Lamar, 26, an alleged drunken driver with two prior DWI convictions, awaits trial for murder in the deaths of 28-year-old Jessica Rodriguez and her 10-year-old daughter, Kaylee Flores, nearly one year ago.
"I know he's having to live with the pain he's killed a mother and daughter," said Brandi Rose, a cousin and close friend of the family.
However, she said Lamar should still pay for not learning lessons from his earlier convictions.
"I honestly think he should go to the jail for the rest of his life," Rose said.
Rose said the night of fatal crash was Rodriguez's 28th birthday.
She said Rodriguez's fiancé was changing a flat tire along I-10 between West and Fresno. According to San Antonio Police, Lamar's SUV going 80 miles an hour, slammed into the back of their compact car. The demolished vehicle came to rest 130 feet away.
She said Kaylee was in the back seat, behind her mother in the passenger seat, and the victim's fiancé was traumatized by what he witnessed that night.
"That's like the stupidest mistake you could ever make, getting behind the wheel knowing you've had drinks," Rose said.
She said their lives would have been spared had Lamar not gotten behind the wheel, called a taxi or had a designated driver.
Rose said, "I think there was like 3,000 deaths last year in Texas. I mean what's it going to take?"
As a tribute to Rodriguez and her daughter, Rose said a memorial service is planned for 5 p.m. Friday, the one-year anniversary of their deaths, at San Jose Burial Park.