Family members and friends of two girls killed in a traffic collision on Sunday, Nov. 24, mourned them as the driver who Rialto police say was responsible for their deaths sat in jail accused of murder.
Rialto police confirmed information in a GoFundMe request that identified the girls by their first names, Neveah and Alinah. One was 3 years old and one was 4. Community members left candles, balloons, flowers and stuffed animals at a memorial Monday night.
The girls died when the intoxicated driver of a pickup ran a red light and broadsided the car the girls were in, said Officer Rusty Lamm, a Rialto police spokesperson.
Their mother, 24-year-old Valencia Avilez of Rialto, was driving a Honda Accord north on Riverside Avenue around 11 p.m., Lamm said. The investigation, which is in its early stages, has so far concluded that she attempted to make a left turn on a green arrow onto Walnut Avenue, Lamm said.
The Dodge Ram, driven by 28-year-old San Bernardino resident Alexis Jose Garcia, ran a red light while speeding, Lamm said, and broadsided the car in the area of the back seat.
The force pushed the Honda into eastbound traffic on Walnut, where it collided with a tow truck.
The girls were pronounced dead at the scene. Their parents were hospitalized and were expected to recover.
Rialto police examine a car in which two girls died and their parents were injured in a traffic collision at the intersection of Riverside and Walnut avenues on Nov. 24, 2024. (Courtesy of Rialto Police Department)
The car had child-safety seats, Lamm said.
Garcia was under the influence of alcohol, Lamm said, and arrested a quarter-mile away when his car became disabled.
Garcia was booked into the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on suspicion of murder, DUI causing injury, and hit-and-run causing injury. He was being held without the possibility of bail.
Police ask anyone with information on the collision to call Sgt. Dan Smith at 909-644-6025 or leave information anonymously through WeTip at 800-782-7463 or at wetip.com , referencing case No. 932413118.
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