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Melissa DeLoatch was standing with her six children outside a 7-Eleven in Garnerville, N.Y., on Wednesday afternoon when her husband, Sean, asked a man who was smoking nearby to move away from the children.

He and the man, Jason Mendez, began to argue, the police said.

Then the unthinkable happened: Mr. Mendez got into his car and drove it into the family, the police said. He reversed 20 feet, the police said, shifted back into drive and plowed into the family a second time.

Ms. DeLoatch, 32, whom family members said was pregnant, was killed. She put herself between the car and some of her children as she pushed the others out of the way, her brother said.

Her husband and their six children, who ranged in age from 10 months to 10 years old, were injured but are all expected to survive, the police said.

“I’m feeling angry, hurt, upset, every emotion there is,” James Christopher, her brother, said. “She’s a hero, she protected the kids.”

On Wednesday night, Mr. Mendez, 35, was charged with murder, attempted murder, menacing, criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest. He pleaded not guilty and is being held in Rockland County Correction Facility, the police said.

“It was a senseless, tragic incident,” said Capt. Martin Lund of the Haverstraw Police Department.

The deadly rage occurred on the sidewalk in front of the 7-Eleven on N. Central Highway in Garnerville, a hamlet within the Rockland County town of Haverstraw. It was snowing when the family of eight arrived at the convenience store at about 1:50 p.m.

The argument between Mr. Mendez and Sean DeLoatch, 35, began with a fight over cigarette smoke, the police said.

“It was possibly the catalyst that set it off,” Captain Lund said.

After the white 2003 Infiniti with Texas license plates plowed into the family, it crashed into the convenience store, shattering the window, the police said.

Mr. Mendez was still in his car when the police arrived. When officers attempted to arrest him, the police said, he threatened them with a razor blade. An officer used a Taser on Mr. Mendez after repeatedly ordering him to drop the razor blade, according to court documents.

Hours after the incident, a mangled stroller remained at the scene.

Mr. Mendez, of Washingtonville, N.Y., has a long arrest record in San Antonio, Tex., where he lived until recently. He has faced charges there of theft, drunken driving and domestic violence, according to Bexar County court records.

After the attack, the DeLoatch family was taken to a hospital in Nyack, where Ms. DeLoatch died. Three of the children have been moved to a larger hospital, Westchester Medical Center, because of their injuries, which are serious but not life-threatening, the police said.

Mr. DeLoatch, posting on Facebook, raged against Mr. Mendez.

“Killer u killed my wife lover best friend mother of my 6 kids my world,” he wrote, linking to an article about Mr. Mendez’s arrest.

Even before the attack, it had not been an easy year for the family.

Ms. DeLoatch wrote on Facebook in August that she and her children had been living in a family shelter and had just raised enough money for a security deposit on a new apartment. Mr. Christopher said things had recently gotten better for the family.

“She was a sister, a wife, a mother,” he said. “She was a loyal, great, all-around person. She would give to anyone.”

Ms. DeLoatch’s cousin, Adrienne Rodriguez, writing on a GoFundMe page, said she had died heroically trying to save her family.

“Melissa did what any mother would have done and tried to protect her children,” Ms. Rodriguez wrote. “Melissa was full of love, smiles, life and so much more. All of us are going to miss you.”

Doris Burke contributed research.

Follow Sharon Otterman on Twitter: @sharonNYT

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