Coroner's office identifies woman killed in fatal Mother's Day crash on Interstate 10
The Riverside County Coroner's office has identified one of the three victims killed after a two-car crash on Interstate 10 on Sunday as Cecilia Villalobos, 31, of Anaheim.
The fatal collision was reported at 7:27 a.m. near Haugen Lehmann Way in the Whitewater area. A black Tesla Model 3 and red Chevrolet Suburban crashed into each other for unknown reasons, which caused the Chevrolet's driver to lose control and crash into the center divider, California Highway Patrol said.
CHP said the Chevrolet overturned, and ejected six of the nine people inside and partially ejected Villalobos. All of the occupants were related and from Anaheim, according to authorities.
Villalobos was pronounced dead on the scene. A 12-year-old girl and 8-year-old girl* were ejected from the car and also pronounced dead on the scene.
A 3-year-old girl and 7-year-old boy had major injuries after being ejected. The boy and an 11-year-old girl with major injuries were airlifted to a local trauma center, and a 15-year-old boy with major injuries was taken to the hospital by ground ambulance.
The Chevrolet driver, a 39-year-old man, had moderate injuries and the right front passenger, a 41-year-old man, had minor injuries. The Tesla driver, a 31-year-old man from Indio, was the only occupant in the Tesla and was not harmed.
California Highway Patrol Spokesperson Jason Montez said police do no suspect drugs or alcohol were a factor in the fatal collision. The eastbound I-10 lanes near Haugen Lehmann Way in the Whitewater area closed for about seven hours after the accident.
*Correction: An earlier version of this story said the youngest victim was a different age. The error came from a CHP press release and has been corrected in this version of the article.
This article includes previous reporting from Desert Sun reporter Andrew John.
Ani Gasparyan covers the western Coachella Valley cities of Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City. Reach her at ani.gasparyan@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Woman killed in fatal I-10 crash in Whitewater area identified
