Driver faces felony manslaughter, DUI suspicions in crash that killed Lucerne Valley girls
A Lucerne Valley man is under arrest on suspicion of felony manslaughter for allegedly driving while intoxicated in a car crash that killed two local teenage girls last week.
Jesus Gallardo Martin, 59, is considered in custody as he remains at Loma Linda University Medical Center after a car crash Friday, April 8, that authorities now allege he caused by running a stop sign, the California Highway Patrol told the Daily Press in a news release Thursday.
The crash killed Kristy Klaus and Kayden Davis, two 16-year-old sophomores at Lucerne Valley Middle/High School. They were declared dead on the scene in the back seat of a 2018 Honda CR-V driven by Christy Rees, the 71-year-old grandmother of Klaus, who suffered major injuries.
The two drivers were airlifted for emergency treatment after the crash by Mercy Air, which flew Martin to Loma Linda and Reese to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.
Both remained at these hospitals as of Thursday.
New details in devastating crash
Authorities also offered new details on the crash that shook Lucerne Valley this weekend, an especially striking tragedy for the unincorporated High Desert community given its location: less than a mile from the site of a hit-and-run last June that killed three local girls — Willow Sanchez, 11; Daytona Bronas, 12; and Sandra Mizer, 13 — and left a fourth critically injured.
Martin is now in custody on suspicions tied to three charges, according to the CHP release: driving under the influence causing death to another person; driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent or greater causing death to another person; and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
California law says the gross vehicular manslaughter charge is punishable by up to 10 years in state prison. It defines this crime as “the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought, in the driving of a vehicle,” while also in violation of the two DUI laws that the Highway Patrol suspects Martin broke in the crash last week.
A law enforcement officer has been present with Martin on a 24/7 basis at Loma Linda since at least this past weekend, CHP spokesperson Michael Mumford previously told the Daily Press. On Tuesday, Mumford said Martin had “been in and out of surgery and we haven’t been able to speak with him yet.”
A CHP investigator finished his preliminary investigation of the crash Wednesday evening, according to Mumford, and the agency brought its findings to the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office Thursday to consult the DA on next steps.
No charges appeared to have been officially filed against Martin as of Thursday, according to San Bernardino County Superior Court records.
CHP’s Barstow Dispatch Center got a call to respond to the crash on State Route 247, at its intersection with Camp Rock Road, shortly before 8:20 p.m. last Friday, according to the release, which says Martin was driving a 1998 Ford Expedition south on Camp Rock Road while Reese was driving the Honda CR-V east on the state highway.
At the intersection of these two roads, drivers on State Route 247 have the right-of-way while drivers going either direction on Camp Rock face a stop sign, each of which even bear an additional yellow sign that reads, “CROSS TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP.”
Investigators allege that as Reese proceeded through the intersection on State Route 247, Martin “failed to stop at a posted stop sign, resulting in the front of the Ford Expedition colliding with the left side of the Honda CR-V.”
“This impact caused the Honda CR-V to overturn into the open desert area south of State Route 247,” the CHP release continued. “As a result of this crash, both juvenile passengers of the Honda CR-V sustained fatal injuries and were pronounced deceased on scene.”
Rees remained at Arrowhead as of Thursday, but her status was more upbeat than the few days immediately following the crash as she had begun communicating with people in the hospital, according to Jessica Risler, president of the Lucerne Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees. Rees is employed in the district.
“She’s not better yet but is awake now, so that’s better than she was,” Risler said in a text message.
Martin also remained under treatment at Loma Linda as of Thursday.
“He will be booked into jail once he is medically cleared,” Mumford told the Daily Press.
Charlie McGee covers California’s High Desert for the Daily Press, focusing on the city of Barstow and its surrounding communities. He is also a Report for America corps member with the GroundTruth Project, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization dedicated to supporting the next generation of journalists in the U.S. and around the world. McGee may be reached at 760-955-5341 or cmcgee@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @bycharliemcgee.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Felony manslaughter, DUI suspected in death of Lucerne Valley girls
