Woman’s Life Was on Upward Curve When Crash Suddenly Ended It

Donna Davis was remembered Monday as a well-liked school employee with a contagious laugh, whose life had taken a Cinderella turn and who was making plans for marriage.

Michael Rooney is a 29-year-old high school dropout and unemployed mechanic who had been sleeping at friends’ homes or in his car, his mother said.

On Saturday evening, Davis, 34, of Brea was killed instantly and her boyfriend was severely injured when Rooney’s car, going about 70 m.p.h., rear-ended theirs, police said.

Police were awaiting results of blood-alcohol tests before seeking criminal charges against Rooney. He was in stable condition with internal injuries Monday in a jail ward at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, being held on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony driving under the influence.

Results of blood tests were expected as early as today, said Huntington Beach Officer Michael H. Corcoran.

Davis’ boyfriend, Mark McLaughlin, 41, of Garden Grove, was in critical condition at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, Corcoran said.

Witnesses told police Rooney had been speeding on Adams Avenue when he crashed into Davis and McLaughlin near Magnolia Street in Huntington Beach just before 7 p.m.

Davis, who is survived by children aged 7 and 9, was remembered Monday as a devoted mother and colleague whose ready laugh brightened the Fullerton School District business office where she had worked as a clerk for 12 years.

“She was a wonderful employee. It was one of the saddest scenes I’ve ever seen at work today,” said district Supt. Duncan Johnson. “She brought real cheer into the workplace with her.”

Davis had told friends of her hopes to marry in the next year or two, said her sister, Judy Fry.

“They were making a life together. She’d had a rough life up to this point and things were really looking up,” Fry said. “It was one of those Cinderella things.”

Rooney had been homeless and out of work for months, although he had a talent for fixing things, said his mother, Joy Rooney. She said Rooney stayed with his parents or friends or slept in the Chevrolet Blazer he was driving Saturday.