Boy Killed, Mother Hurt in Car Crash

A 11-year-old boy was killed and his 36-year-old mother was critically injured Wednesday when the woman lost control of her speeding car and smashed into a tree, officials said.

The boy, Frankie Greco of Mission Viejo, was pinned in the wreckage for nearly 40 minutes before he died at the scene at about 9 a.m., a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

His mother, Jeannie Ann Greco of Mission Viejo, suffered severe head injuries when she was thrown about 50 feet from the car, the spokesman said. She was taken to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, where she was listed in critical condition after undergoing surgery. CHP officials said they are trying to determine why Greco was traveling south at more than 70 m.p.h. in a 45-m.p.h. zone on Marguerite Parkway, just north of Hillcrest Street, at about 8:30 a.m.

Smashed Into Palm Tree

According to CHP Officer George Luce, Greco lost control of her Mercedes-Benz 560 SL, which skidded, spun around several times, then crossed into the center divider, where it smashed into a palm tree.

Paramedics and CHP officers said the car hit the tree with enough force to sever the vehicle.

Greco, who had not been wearing a seat belt, was ejected and thrown across the northbound lane of Marguerite Parkway, Luce said.

‘Never Got Him Out’

The boy was wearing a seat belt, however, according to observers at the scene.

Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to try and free the boy, said Michael Harding, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Department, “but there was so much metal and material wrapped around this young man that we never got him out.”

“Twenty minutes after we tried to rescue him, he went into respiratory arrest and cardiac arrest. For another 20 minutes, we tried to resuscitate him, . . . and we could not get him out, and we ended up (pronouncing him dead) on the scene.”