The driver of a van carrying 10 unbelted passengers swerved to try and avoid the head-on collision that killed a Yuba City woman, a California Highway Patrol official said Monday.
Lorretta Lynn Deniz, 22, of the 400 block of Emerson Avenue, was pronounced dead at the scene of the Saturday night accident on Highway 20 east of Meridian. Passengers in the van, all from Oakland, had injuries ranging from a broken leg to fractured spines and skulls, according to the CHP.
The collision occurred partly on the shoulder of westbound Highway 20, indicating the van driver, Adolfo Jiminez, 23, swerved to avoid Deniz’s eastbound 1998 Chevy Malibu, said Officer Jeff Larson.
A 7-month-old child in the van, Candy Carillo, suffered a fractured skull and was flown to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. All of the passengers were sitting on the floor of the 2002 Ford van, which had no rear seats, according to the CHP.
Investigators were trying to learn Monday what the van and its Oakland occupants were doing in the area, said Larson.
Also undetermined is why Deniz’s car was in the wrong lane. There was no immediate evidence that either driver had been drinking. Results of a tests on Deniz’s blood will not arrive for weeks, said Larson.
An autopsy Monday morning showed Deniz died from a blunt force injury to the head, said Sutter County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Brenda Baker.
Deniz graduated from Yuba City High School in 2004.
A passenger in the Malibu, Marcelino Garcia, 21, who lives on Lincoln Road in Yuba City, was treated for minor injuries at Rideout Memorial Hospital.
Jiminez had a broken leg and was also taken to Rideout.
None of the van occupants were believed to have life-threatening injuries. The other van passengers and their injuries were: Jose Perez, 20, fractured spine; Pedro Perez, 39, fractured pelvis; Efrain Godinez, 35, fractured spine; Maribel Godinez, 23, facial lacerations; Robert Perry, 20, fractured femur; Pedro Martin, 44, injuries not listed; and Jorge Aguilar, 21, cranial bleeding.
Two other passengers, Adolfo Godinez, 18, and Jose Felix, 24, were not injured.
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