Lady Ramirez rubbed her head wearily, her eyes closed as she struggled to express what made her 8-year-old daughter Camila special.
Ramirez, 44, had cuts on her face, and her head was held in a neck brace as she sat in the cafeteria at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital on Thursday, Aug. 20. She had been at the bedside of her 12-year-old son, Dominique, who was critically injured in the traffic collision on Saturday, Aug. 15 that killed Camila.
Dominique was sedated as doctors waited for swelling in his brain to go down. Ramirez, the driver, and Ramirez’s husband and nephew were also in a car that was broadsided at Ramona Expressway and Rider Street in Perris.
Camila, a fourth grader at Sierra Vista Elementary in Perris, was on the way with her family to a 38th birthday party for Ramirez’s brother, Juan Carlos Ramirez, in Moreno Valley.
The other driver, who authorities say they believe was drunk, was arrested and on Thursday charged with murder.
“A lot of people loved (Camila),” Ramirez said. “She was very special to everyone.”
The mother showed videos of the girl; they spoke to what Ramirez had difficulty saying.
There’s the one of Camila merrily walking along their street in Perris, her ducks Paco and Cruz marching behind her.
“She loves animals,” Ramirez said, brightening. “She had birds. She’s always talking about them.”
And then there were the videos of Camila twirling this way and that, her long dresses fanning outward.
“That was my baby,” her mother said. “She was very fashionista, too, so she was always complimenting her friends on how pretty they looked in clothes.”
Camila’s teachers called her “fancy pants” because that’s what she wore to school, Ramirez said.
Ducks, birds and fancy clothes.
“She had her own unique way, you know?” Ramirez said.
Esther Contreras, 41, is a family friend and neighbor: “She brought our little cul-de-sac to life. … We bonded over ice cream and perfume. The most innocent a kid could be.”
On Thursday, Jovana Katsunuma, a friend of Ramirez’s since they attended Fullerton High, sat with her in the cafeteria and helped sort through the many cards and letters she received from students and staff at the elementary school.
“Camila, you are awesome,” one said. “You are amazing. I wish I could have told you this before. But you’re like a best friend to me. We took a photo together on Crazy Hair Day.”
Ramirez’s 8-year-old nephew Adrian Ramirez was released from a hospital on Monday, Aug, 17. Her husband, Andres, 51, remained hospitalized at Riverside University Health System Medical Center for treatment of internal bleeding near his liver.
A GoFundMe account has been established to raise money for the family.
Ramirez declined to discuss the crash.
A sworn statement written by a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy asking a judge to increase bail alleges 52-year-old Silvia Corona of San Jacinto caused the collision.
The deputy said that around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Corona was driving her 2017 Lexus RX350 south on Ramona Expressway at an unsafe speed, ran a red light and broadsided Ramirez’s car as Ramirez turned left from Rider Street onto the northbound Ramona Expressway.
Corona never braked before the collision and continued 326 feet uphill and out of control, the deputy wrote.
“Corona was uncooperative at the scene and initially stated she had not been drinking alcoholic beverages,” the deputy wrote.
But, the deputy said, he found cans of Truly — a seltzer and alcohol drink — outside Corona’s car.
Her blood-alcohol level was 0.28 — more than three times the standard of 0.08 at which it is illegal to drive — the deputy wrote.
“I believe these facts indicate she has a drinking problem,” he added.
Molly Smith, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office, said Corona posted $250,000 bail on Wednesday. Then Thursday a judge increased bail to $1 million and Corona was again arrested.
Corona was jailed at Southwest Detention Center in French Valley. She is due to enter pleas on Oct. 1 in Superior Court in Riverside.
In addition to the murder filing, she is charged with four counts of DUI causing bodily injury. Court records did not list an attorney who could speak on her behalf.