Oxnard Teenager Killed in Car Crash

A 17-year-old Ventura High School student died Thursday when the car her boyfriend was driving overturned after he lost control, authorities said.

Darlene Alvarez of Oxnard died in the crash, which occurred shortly after 4 p.m. on Wood Road just south of Camarillo Airport, authorities said.

The driver, 18-year-old John Colvin of Oxnard, suffered head and neck injuries and was in serious condition Thursday night in the intensive care unit at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, a nursing supervisor said.

Firefighters found Colvin dazed and standing outside the car. He told rescuers Alvarez was his girlfriend, Ventura County Fire Capt. Charles Merricks said.

Colvin was driving a 1990 Mazda Miata convertible northbound on Wood Road when he lost control of the vehicle, which left the road and slammed into a row of trees near Laguna Road, authorities said.

The car came to rest upside-down, Merricks said.

“Her side took the brunt of the damage,” Deputy County Coroner Mitch Breese said.

Alvarez was wearing her seat belt and the top of the car was up and not retracted, authorities said.

Firefighters were concerned initially that a third person, possibly a toddler, had been ejected from the car, Merricks said. Toys and small shoes were found inside the car but no other person was found, he said.

The cause of the accident is under investigation, the California Highway Patrol reported.