Death Toll Rises to 3 in Collision North of Oxnard

A woman, pregnant with twins, was among three people killed in a head-on collision north of Oxnard, and her husband was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, investigators said Monday.

Maria Torres, 23, of Sylmar was wearing a seat belt in the crash Sunday on Santa Clara Avenue near Central Avenue but was fatally crushed against the dashboard, said CHP Officer Jackie Diaz.

The Torres’ 22-month-old baby, Beronica, was sitting in the rear of the northbound car without a child’s car seat. When the car collided with a southbound van about 5 p.m., the impact threw Beronica through a side window and onto the road shoulder, causing massive head injuries, officials said.

A passenger in the van, Ruthie (Lynn) Burk, 36, of Ventura, suffered multiple injuries and died early Monday at Ventura County Medical Center, Deputy Coroner Craig Stevens said.

Torres was 7 1/2 months pregnant, and coroner’s and CHP officials included the fetuses in their fatality count of five people. A deputy coroner said they were asphyxiated when Torres died.

Her husband, Martin Torres, 33, of Sylmar, was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs and suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, Diaz said.

The Torres family was heading home from the beach, Diaz said. CHP officers found empty and unopened beer cans in their car, she said.

CHP officials said a vehicular manslaughter conviction could carry a maximum penalty of four years in state prison. Martin Torres is on probation for a 1990 alcohol-related reckless-driving conviction in Siskiyou County in Northern California, a court spokeswoman there said.

Vincent J. O’Neill Jr., chief deputy district attorney for Ventura County, said his office will decide whether to file charges against Torres as soon as the CHP completes its investigation.

Martin Torres was driving within the 55-m.p.h. limit on Santa Clara when he lost control of his car and swerved into the southbound lane, the CHP’s Diaz said. Burk’s husband, Theodore Burk, was driving at an unknown speed and did not have time to avoid Torres’ car, the CHP officer said.

Theodore Burk, 35, was listed in fair condition at Pleasant Valley Hospital. Martin Torres was listed in fair condition at St. John’s Regional Medical Center.

Rafael Castillo, 18, of Moorpark, a cousin of the Torres family, also was in fair condition at Pleasant Valley Hospital. He was riding in the back seat next to the baby, Diaz said.

Ruthie Burk worked in a supermarket deli and her husband paints houses, according to neighbors and friends of the couple, their 8-year-old son, Teddy, and 16-year-old daughter, Roberta.

“I feel really bad for the kids,” said neighbor Lisa Torres, 31. “It’s bad for anybody to go through something like this.”

Another neighbor, Damian Hernandez, 15, said Martin Torres will have to face the tragedy for the rest of his days.

“He has to live with killing five people. He’s going to be hating life,” said Hernandez, whose sister, Trini, had gone camping that weekend with the Burk children while the parents went to the Renaissance Faire in San Bernardino.

“I still think, ‘What if my sister had been in that van?’ ”