ORANGE : Mother Lacks Funds for Burial Journey

Juana Jacome sat silently on the edge of the bed in her small apartment Wednesday, two days after a drunk-driving suspect killed her 2-year-old son, Jorge Luis, and very nearly killed her as well.

The 24-year-old native of a tiny village in the Mexican state of Puebla could hardly utter a word. Her hands trembled as relatives spoke of the family’s sudden predicament; Juana Jacome must fly home to bury her son, but the family lacks the money to pay for the trip right now.

“We don’t have resources,” said Alvaro Jacome, the woman’s brother. “Who would ever think that something like this would happen?”

Jacome said the family has spoken with a lawyer and is still trying to make arrangements for the trip to San Antonio Atzitzintla. “We’re hoping she can somehow leave this week,” he said.

The boy’s father is still in Mexico, relatives explained. Juana Jacome and her son came to the United States about nine months ago and shared a small apartment on Circulo Way with relatives. The mother has been working in private homes during that time.

Jorge Luis, a month shy of his third birthday, was killed Monday evening when a van jumped a curb on Hewes Street and struck him and his mother as they were walking to the home of a relative.

The driver of the van, 62-year-old Jose Ray Sanchez Chavez of Orange, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter. He is free pending filing of formal charges, an Orange police investigator said.

It was Chavez’s second drunk-driving arrest in the past six years, authorities said. Following a 1986 conviction, Chavez’s driver’s license was suspended for three years.