Friends of Kandi Jo Heller, the Slatington woman killed in a car crash Wednesday in Allentown, remembered her as a joyful person and the “life of the party” in the city’s nightlife scene.
An SUV driven by 24-year-old Kevin Abdiel Santiago from Allentown drove through a stop sign and hit Heller’s vehicle, according to state police. Santiago is charged with burglary and 15 counts each of receiving stolen property and prohibited possession of a firearm.
The crash remains under investigation.
Dave Ortiz Alvarado knew Heller for more than 25 years when she moved to his Allentown neighborhood where “everybody knew everybody” near the intersection of 13th and Union streetsin 2010.
Although she left the neighborhood to move to Slatington years ago, Heller remained a close friend.
An undated photo of Kandi Heller, who was killed in a crash Wednesday in Allentown. She is remembered by her friends for being a fun-loving person. (Courtesy of Cynthia Bilal)
“It is unbelievable what happened to my friend,” Alvarado said. “She was a nice person, a good mother, a great person, a good neighbor. She would do anything for anybody.”
She leaves behind two sons, ages 11 and 21, who have special needs, Alvarado said. Heller owned a cleaning business called “Queen Klean.”
Andrea “Foxy” Rachelle, who owns the Allentown nightlife event business Foxy Entertainment, said she became close friends with Heller around two years ago via a Facebook group for Capricorn Zodiac sign enthusiasts.
Rachelle, Heller, and another mutual friend, Cynthia “Za” Bilal, became fast friends who frequented Allentown’s nightlife and events scene.
“Kandi was the life of the party. Once Kandi found out I had an entertainment company out here, she was involved in every event,” Rachelle said. “She was supposed to be at my pool party on Sunday.”
Kandi was the friend who “never stopped dancing,” loved going to live music events and “always had a smile on her face,” Rachelle added.
“None of the bars she goes to, none of the clubs, nothing is going to be the same without her,” she said. “She just was a very, very happy, outgoing soul.”
Bilal said she and Heller bonded over being single moms.
“She was fun to be around, she was just a great person,” Bilal said.
Javier Guerrero, a manager at West End Lounge and Grill, where Heller was a regular, is organizing a balloon release memorial for Heller at 10 p.m. Friday at the bar.
Heller came to the West End Lounge nearly every Friday and Saturday, Guerrero recalled, and he said he will miss seeing her liven up the mood every time she walked through the door.
“She was a down to earth person, a people person. She liked to make people laugh, smile, dance, she loved to dance, she loved the Spanish community as well,” Guerrero said. “It was so heartbreaking to hear what happened to her, and I wanted to do this for her, for her family. It’s so sad at such a young age.”
Another memorial for Heller is planned for July 31 at one of Heller’s favorite clubs, Catch 22 on Hamilton Street.
DJ Menace, the club’s main DJ, who also plays dance mixes at several other area clubs, said he saw Heller earlier this month on Catch 22’s dance floor. Heller loved music, especially reggae, he said. One of her favorite songs was “Rich Girl” by Louchie Lou & Michie One.
“Kandi was just a happy, bubbly person. She was a jokester,” the DJ said. “She followed me to all the clubs and she was always having fun, just being Kandi. Everybody is just really sad about what happened to her.”
Reporter Laurie Mason Schroeder contributed to this story.
Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.