In the hours before his custom white Jeep careened off a road and ripped through a guard rail near the Dominican town of Juan Adrian, Yordano Ventura was enjoying the company of friends on Saturday evening at a festival in the province of San Jose de Ocoa.
The partygoers packed like sardines into a city block amongst trucks and vehicles blasting loud music, a row of food tents lining the middle of the scene. The event was billed as Patronales 2017, an annual festival honoring Our Lady of Altagracia, or High Grace, the patron saint of Ocoa and the entire Dominican Republic.