Girl Rescued From Car Moved to Loma Linda Hospital

A 9-year-old girl who was trapped underwater for more than 20 minutes Saturday after her mother’s car plunged into the California Aqueduct was moved to a hospital close to her home Monday where she was listed in “very critical” condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Shanika Lister of Rialto was moved from Antelope Valley Hospital to Loma Linda University Medical Center on Monday, spokeswoman Zarina Baqai said.

Shanika was a passenger in a 1988 Plymouth driven by her mother, Vicki Lister, who swerved to avoid a car heading in the wrong direction toward them on Pearblossom Highway near Palmdale. Their car crashed through a fence, turned upside-down and sank 16 feet to the bottom of the aqueduct.

Lister and a passenger, Mary Goodley of San Bernardino, escaped and swam to the surface. Shanika was trapped by her seat belt in the back seat until Los Angeles County Firefighter Ron McFadden dove in and freed her.

The man believed to be driving the car that caused the accident, Dennis Martin Byrnes, 49, of Lancaster, was arrested and charged with felony hit-and-run driving Sunday after a witness followed him and wrote down his license plate number.