Driver Was Intentionally Weaving Before Fatal Crash : Accident: Teen-age survivor says friend killed in collision was trying to amuse 3-year-old passenger, who also died.

A survivor of a crash that killed three friends has told authorities that at the time of the incident, the 15-year-old driver was intentionally weaving her car back and forth to amuse a 3-year-old passenger.

Alicia Acevedo, 14, gave police an account that provides an explanation for the accident that fits with the statements of other witnesses and victims, who said they saw the youths’ car weaving before the collision.

Acevedo “told me that (the driver) was swerving left and right to amuse the kid . . . to make the kid laugh,” said Deputy Mark Slater of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

Acevedo described the driver, JoKema Du Bois, 15, as “wired” after eating pizza and drinking soda at church, said Du Bois’ grandmother and guardian, Mary McWilliams.

McWilliams said her granddaughter suffered from low blood-sugar levels, and consuming sugar could make her excessively active and then drowsy. Du Bois and two others, including the 3-year-old, died in the crash June 1 on Seco Canyon Road as they were returning from a Canyon Country church youth group meeting.

“The only thing Alicia told me is that JoKema was wired, and I said, ‘Uh-oh,’ ” McWilliams said. “She knew she couldn’t eat sugar, soda, or any of that.”

Some details of Acevedo’s recollection appear to be incorrect, according to Slater. For example, the teen-ager said she was holding 3-year-old Jesika Noell on her lap when the collision occurred, but a deputy who arrived at the site of the collision moments after it occurred found the toddler in a seat belt in the back seat of the car.

“I think due to her head injury she is in some confusion,” he said.

Noell, Du Bois and Gena Watkinson, 15, died in the crash. Acevedo is in stable condition and Du Bois’ sister, Barbara, 14, is in critical condition at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, said Deborah Moore, a hospital spokeswoman.

McWilliams said Barbara Du Bois has remained in a coma since the accident and has a 50% chance of survival, up from 10% when the accident occurred. Du Bois underwent a six-hour surgery Monday to put pins in both of her legs and a breathing tube in her throat. More surgery may be required.

“They told us it was dangerous to do surgery on her, but it was more dangerous not to because she is in so much pain,” McWilliams said.

JoKema Du Bois, who was not licensed to drive, took the car without permission, according to her grandmother. Slater said Acevedo claims to have ridden with Du Bois before and stated, “She’s a good driver.”

Evidence collected by investigators concludes that Du Bois was driving at 43 m.p.h. when the collision occurred, Slater said. The speed limit on the street is 45 m.p.h.

Authorities are still waiting for the results of an autopsy to determine if other factors, such as alcohol or drugs, may have played a role in the accident, Slater said. He said Acevedo has “emphatically” denied Du Bois was driving under the influence of drugs or other substances.