HAVERSTRAW - People watched in horror at a 7-Eleven as a man plowed his car into a family of eight, including a baby in a stroller, then put his car into reverse and drove forward into them again, killing a 32-year-old mother of six.

An argument over smoking in front of the children reportedly enraged Jason Mendez enough to ram his car into the family in Garnerville on Wednesday, according to police and witnesses.

Witnesses told reporters at the scene that the 32-year-old father of the family had asked Mendez not to smoke a cigarette around his six children, and that Mendez flew into a rage.

Haverstraw police said Mendez, 35, drove into the family, then reversed his car about 20 feet and drove forward and struck them again. The mother, Melissa DeLoatch, was killed, according to a criminal complaint filed in Haverstraw Town Court.

William Stone, president of the Haverstraw Ambulance Corp, said he has never seen a scene like this.

"There was carnage everywhere," Stone said.

"This is a tragedy, a senseless tragedy," Haverstraw police Capt. Martin Lund said.

Mendez has an address in Garnerville, but he has a Washingtonville address listed on the complaint.

The father and his six children were all hospitalized with broken bones and other injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

Along with the 10-month-old baby, the children are 2, 3, 6, and two 10-year-olds, according to the complaint.

It was the second homicide in Rockland County on Wednesday. In Ramapo a man was stabbed to death early Thursday.

The Garnerville incident occurred around 1:50 p.m. outside the 7-Eleven at 75 Central Highway. A confrontation that included an argument over smoking led to Mendez driving into the family outside the store, police said.

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Mendez then backed his 2013 Infiniti up and drove into the family again, according to the complaint.

Mendez brandished a knife when officers confronted him, police said. Officers subdued him with a Taser, then arrested him, police said.

“He didn’t say anything initially to the police officers,” Lund said. “He refused to drop the knife. Then he was tazed at the scene and taken down.”

Mendez was charged with second-degree murder and seven counts of attempted second-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Wednesday night and is being held at the Rockland County jail.

Mendez is due back in Haverstraw Town Court on Tuesday.

Lund said Mendez has a criminal record in Texas. Court officials in Bexar County said Mendez was arrested there at least three times in recent years.

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Officials said Mendez faced a felony assault charge and a misdemeanor charge of obstructing a highway, both of which resulted in deferred adjudication, a type of probation that leads to a dismissal of the charges once the probation is completed.

Mendez also faced a misdemeanor assault charge that was dismissed, officials said.

"The investigation is still ongoing and it is anticipated that several additional charges will be filed," Haverstraw police said in a Facebook post. "The names of all involved parties are being withheld at this time due to the ongoing investigation."

No one answered the door Thursday morning at Mendez's parents' home on Brooks Circle, a quiet street of single-family homes in Garnerville about a mile from the site of the fatal crash.

The Mendez's next-door neighbor said police had been at the house on Wednesday night. The woman, who declined to give her name, said Mendez had been kicked out of the house, although she didn't know when.

The 7-Eleven continued to be a crime scene Thursday, cordoned off by yellow police tape. Cones blocked the entrance to the store.

Nicolle Randles, a hairdresser at nearby George's Barber Shop for 19 years, was trying to come to terms with what happened.

"The world is crazy," she said Thursday. "How does one do this?"

The 7-Eleven is where stroller-pushing parents bring children for a Slurpee, Randles said.

"They go there and mom doesn't make it home," she said. "It's just devastating."

READ: Criminal complaint against Jason Mendez

The Record staff writer Anthony Zurita contributed to this report.

Twitter: @ChrisEberhart2