Accidents Leave 2 Dead, 2 Hospitalized

A pedestrian and a motorist died in separate traffic accidents during the weekend, and another motorist was in critical condition, authorities said Saturday.

Filemon Diaz Hernandez, 65, of Oxnard was walking outside a crosswalk at Ventura Road and 9th Street when he was struck by a Port Hueneme man driving a pickup truck, said Oxnard traffic investigator Humberto Jimenez.

Armando Thomas Gonzales, 20, was traveling east on Ventura Road at about 8 p.m. Friday when he hit Hernandez, Jimenez said.

Hernandez was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 10:26 p.m. No charges were filed against Gonzales.

In another accident, Lisa Berger Lawson, 36, of Oceanside was traveling north on the Ventura Freeway south of Bates Road about 6:30 p.m. when she crossed the center divider and drove into southbound traffic, according the California Highway Patrol.

Lawson was ejected after her car slammed head-on into a vehicle driven by Kevin Seji Kishimoto of San Jose. Lawson, who was pronounced dead on the scene by CHP officers, was not wearing a seat belt, the CHP said.

Kishimoto, 20, suffered a knee injury and was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Santa Barbara, where he was in good condition, medical personnel said.

Meanwhile, Summer Joy Howery, 24, of Ventura, was in critical condition Saturday at Ventura County Medical Center after a single-car accident on the Ventura Freeway in Ventura.

Howery was heading north near the Seaward Avenue exit about 3 a.m. Saturday when she veered off into a ravine and slammed into a palm tree.