2 Women Killed After Car Jumps Curb and Hits Tree

Investigators said Monday they are trying to determine what caused a car driven by an Encino woman to plow into a tree in Beverly Hills early Sunday morning, killing the driver and her passenger. Police speculated that alcohol may have been a factor.

Tammy M. Chamberlain, 22, was driving her late model Nissan 200SX westbound on Sunset Boulevard just east of Rexford Drive, when it jumped the curb and slammed sideways into a tree on the car’s passenger side, police said.

Kathryn A. Parlier, 23, of Los Angeles, the only passenger in the car, died at the scene. Chamberlain was taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she died a short time later, police said.

Both women were wearing seat-belts, police said.

“We don’t have any idea why” the accident happened, said Beverly Hills Police Department spokesman Lt. Frank Salcido. “We’re investigating the possibility that this was a case of driving under the influence.”

The posted speed on that section of Sunset Boulevard is 35 m.p.h., and it is “a relatively straight section of roadway,” Salcido said.

Witnesses told police that the car was being driven erratically, constantly changing lanes at high speed, Salcido said.

Investigators said the car struck the center median just east of Rexford Drive, then veered to the right, crossed the road and hit the curb. The car vaulted into the air and slammed into the tree.